Warframe: Trust
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: Who can you trust? Really, absolutely trust? Would you trust Tenno, Corpus, Grineer? Any of these can be trusted to a degree and not a micrometer beyond that. Trust is one of the easiest things to lose and one of the hardest things to ever get back. This is a fanfiction, I own no rights to Warframe.
1. Chapter 1

**One  
**

The Corpus team moved through the wrecked ship slowly and carefully. Europa was not a safe place at the best of times, which these were not. Their job was simple. Find things in the many wrecks that dotted the ice world. Then bring those things to their Board for profit. Said profit never really trickled down to the Crewmen and such on the ground, but few of _them_ had any say in the matter.

The Corpus was not an easy life unless one was the highest ranks, but there were benefits. A Crewman never had to worry about where he or she was going to sleep. They often had to worry about waking up with all of the enemies who loved to sneak about and slay humans in their sleep, but never about having a _place_ to sleep. They never had to worry about lack of food. Their food was a bit on the monotonous side, but again, none of them dreamed of complaining. Few had the ability to do so and fewer of those who could think for themselves _dared_.

The team was well armed, well equipped with MOAs and Ospreys and well drilled in the myriad guidelines that ran every aspect of life in the Corpus and well motivated. They also had no idea what they were walking into. What the faint energy traces that they had detected meant. Europa wasn't safe at the best of times, even discounting the various enemies who made life hell for the humans who were trying to salvage whatever they could. Freak storms, power outages that left the barely coping heating systems frozen solid, all of these were know hazards. The lure of profit pulled many humans to their doom on this frozen hell and this group was no exception.

The first shot took the team's Nullifier right in the slit that gave his eyes access to the outer world. That slit was not, as some had said, courtesy or a means of trying to keep people sane when cooped up in a boxy helmet for days at a time. It was simple efficiency. If all the tech failed, which _had_ happened on occasion despite all the Company propaganda to the contrary, it simply made sense to be able to see out without taking all the protection off. All the protection in the Corpus arsenal would not have done that poor Nullifier any good at all when the high powered round tore his helmet, and most of his _head_ , clean off.

The team deployed without even a word. The MOAs and Ospreys moved off in programmed fashion to seek the enemy. The Crewmen all sought cover. No one had seen or sensed anything, so whoever had fired the shot hadn't been close. A quick check by the team medic of the vital signs telemetry in her suit showed her teammate beyond help. And more.

"That was a ballistic round!" She snapped to the team leader in battle language. "Not competition! Not Company!"

Inter-Corpus warfare was not supposed to happen. In reality? While the guidelines _said_ that all Corpus were all one big happy family, the truth of the matter was far messier. Factional warfare was a fact of life. Any scent of Profit always drew hordes of seekers of fortune as blood in the water had once drawn Earth borne sharks. Many of the factions had about as much compunction in spilling blood of fellow humans as sharks once had. Sad, but a fact. It was great news, that a high powered assailant was hidden somewhere nearby, but he or she likely wasn't equipped as well as they were. Or so everyone devoutly hoped.

"Grineer or Tenno!" The Sap Comba did as the guidelines directed and ordered his team to move out. Staying in one place while under fire was a death sentence and while Crewmen were not highly valued by the Company, they _were_ tools for the company and not to be expended lightly. MOAs and Ospreys could be replaced easily. Soldiers with experience and often highly expensive training? Not so much. "Proxies to grid search! All others? Sensors on full!"

It might not help against Tenno, who often could cloak themselves from visual or other sensor with an ease that defied belief. Grineer would be detected in short order. Once they were detected, it would be a fairly straightforward fight, if often long, brutal and messy.

This was not straightforward. Whoever was shooting ignored the proxies. Instead, the medic died without another word, her form slumping to the ground with a huge hole blown through her. No one had seen the shooter! Whoever it was, they were well hidden or far away. The team was outclassed. There were even Company guidelines for that. Basically, they boiled down to 'Run away!'

"Fall back!" The team leader snapped and his people did so in order. A Tech fell to lie slumped on the ground, grabbing weakly at her right leg as a deep wound pulsed her life out. She groaned once, but then lay still as the others ignored her. It was unprofitable to remain in an enemy kill zone. The proxies moved all around the team, all seeking some sign of the enemy. There was _nothing_ within half a kilometer! That didn't make any sense! The weather here was awful. It made a hash of even the _best_ passive sensors. Active sensors would be detected in short order, triangulated and fired upon by long range artillery. Such was far more cost effective than throwing troops away generally. Another Crewman screamed as he fell into a deep ravine, blood catapulting form his arm. The scream faded quickly and the team leader made a quick decision. They had to report this. If they did? They might survive the Board's displeasure. If not? Well, at least they would serve the Company better than as cooling corpses on the ice.

Or, at least… That was the plan.

The plan failed as the commander's helmet flew off in pieces. He survived the initial hit, but was stunned, staggering out of his meager cover. He did _not_ survive the second hit. It tore through his chest armor. He fell staring up at a mountainside where a tiny form stood in the distance. Even from so far away, the armor was distinctive to his enhanced visual sensors. A Grineer! No! Two! One was looking at them through some kind of scope. The other was lying on the ground, hefting a long rifle. His wound left him mere seconds to realize that his team had walked into a trap. The signal that had been sent had been a lure. He was trying to utter a command for his people to run when darkness took him.

The Corpus tried to follow his final order, tried to fall back in order, but none of the humans made it back to the ice cave they had exited to scour the surface for the signal. The MOAs and Ospreys, denied commands, reverted to their basic programming and headed back for their recharging and replenishment stations, leaving a dozen human forms crumpled on the ice.

One was still alive when a white shadow fell over her. Helen J-57 had lost her Supra when she had been hit. She scrambled for her Cestra sidearm, but a kick sent it skittering away from her hand. She stared up at the white bulbous armor. She spat at it, but instead of shooting, it knelt beside her. She was dumbfounded when the Grineer did not kill her. Instead, he bound her hands in front of her and then to her even greater astonishment, started checking her wounded leg! Then the Grineer marine slapped something onto the wound that burned like fire. She bit her lip to keep from crying out. She was beyond astonishment as the clone picked her up and carried her from the carnage filled battlefield. She was trying to fight, trying to do _anything_ as the cold ate deep into her and then she knew no more.

* * *

Some time later

"Corpus detected the signal and came as you said they would. This one is the only survivor. This is one of their technicians. It will have information."

The calm, male voice pulled Helen J-57 out of a pain filled sleep to find herself lying on something soft, covered by something soft and warm. She tried to move and could not. She tried to speak and could not. She could not do anything but lie there. Fear rose, but not fully. It was held away by something.

"'She', soldier, not 'it'. We need to make contact and while I deplore this method, it may be the best way." A tired female voice sounded and then warm hands touched Helen J-57s head and then her leg. The pain in her leg faded. "She is alive and while the others are not, they did not find the signal source. Well done."

"Orders?" The other asked.

"Take up a guard position while I have a chat with our guest. Get the transport ready. We need to leave sooner rather than later. If the Corpus picked up the signal, others did too. Others we have no chance against." The other said as warmth spread across Helen J-57's body. Was she drugged? "The Corpus likely will not throw away more troops, but they _may_ send recon teams or proxies. You assume left no traces?"

"No." The other replied, still calm. "The trail will end at the river. Nina Tal saw no further activity and remains on watch."

"Well done." A hand patted Helen J-57's head. "Get started on evacuation and I will talk to our guest while I see if I can save her leg."

"As you order!" A clang sounded. Metal on metal?

The other sighed as something touched Helen J-57's head and she felt warm wetness sweeping her face. Someone was washing her face? No, her whole _head_. Her leg was hurting in a distant sort of way and suddenly, it wasn't anymore! Had her leg been cut off? She could not restrain a whimper.

"Easy." The female voice crooned as the Corpus soldier felt fear rise further. "It is all right. It is all right. You are all right. Easy. You are cold and wet but in no further danger unless you bring it on yourself. You speech will return quickly. Your leg is still there, I deadened the nerves until I can see about healing the damage. It is fairly extreme." The hands were soothing, calming and Helen J-57 felt her fear abate. "That is it. That is it. Just relax, soldier. I have you. You are safe."

"Gr-… Gr-..." Helen J-57 tried to get the word 'Grineer' out and then other sighed deeper.

"Actually no." The other said sadly. "But you won't believe and I cannot let you see me. Not yet. Not until we are somewhere safer. Damn, it! I knew that signal would be detected, but I hoped not this soon." The hands did something and something touched Helen J-57's forehead. Whatever it was. it was warm and soft. She basked in the feelings. "There we go. Better?"

"Yes... But..." Helen said weakly. "What are you doing to me?"

"Preparing you for your new life." The other said a bit absently. "The Corpus, for all of their faults, are not really to blame for this mess. For the loss of your team and so many others. I am." Something warm wrapped around Helen J-57's head. "What is your name?" The other inquired as whatever it was hardened. "Mine is Anna."

"I..." Helen J-57 knew she shouldn't say. This other, whoever she was, was not Corpus! That was clear even without sight. The hands that touched her were professional though. Not hard or cold, but almost clinical. "I shouldn't say."

"My dear, there is no need for any of us to be rude." Far from offended, the other was calm and gentle still. "You cannot go back. I am sure you have been downsized by now. If you _were_ to go back with weird stories, I am sure your fate would not be pleasant."

"No." Helen said as the warmth spread across her whole body, minus her leg which was still numb. "Without profit or my team? No." She agreed. "Just… This is not right." She pleaded as the warmth suffused her entire being.

"No, this is not right. None of it is and many will agree with that. But it is _needed_." The other agreed as something slipped into Helen J-57's mouth. Something round that dripped. "Here. Drink. You need the fluids." It was water and it tasted odd. Not drugged, she knew those tastes far too well from indoctrination and training, but oddly untainted. She drank carefully, grateful tissues soaking in the water. "That's it." The other approved. "Good girl. Don't drink too fast."

"What are you doing to me?" Helen J-57 was not quite begging as the straw was removed from her mouth She felt oddness all over her. Odd crawling sensation. It didn't feel bad, but it _did_ feel odd. Something warm covered her left eye and she felt the whatever it was harden there as well.

"Humans cannot go where we need to." The other replied. "We can certainly use you, but if you appear as a human where we are going, our cover will be blown and I cannot allow that. We will use you and we must. Our mission comes first." That sounded odd, almost rote. "What is your name?"

"Helen J-57..." The Corpus soldier was floating now on a sea of bliss. "Please..." She had no idea what she was begging or why, but the hand was back on her forehead, soothing, calming.

"Helen." The other sounded calmer now. "That is a good name. We will talk after we get out of here and you wake up. It will be a shock, but I know you can handle it. Good night, Helen."

"That is... not… my name..." The Corpus soldier tried to protest as darkness took her. A comforting, red tinged darkness.

"It is now."

* * *

An ice cave

The armored female who called herself Anna when she called herself anything watched as the young human was encased in the bag that would protect her frail form until they could get her somewhere that proper repairs could be done. She shook her head as the damage readouts slowly changed from red to green. As various parts of the girl's body were prepared for their change from weak flesh to strong metal.

"So young." She mused as she worked her controls. "She is way too young to be in the field as a Corpus Tech. Something is off about her."

"Commander." The leader of her security force called and she spun to see him standing ready. "Transport reports inbound. They should arrive shortly, but our upgraded sensor net reports other ships are also inbound."

"Oh, no..." The being called 'Commander' groaned. "Let me guess."

"It's them." The Grineer replied, uneasy. "Ma'am. They are broadcasting orders. The orders are clear."

"And _wrong_ , Lancer!" The other snapped and then shook her head. "The Queens did not give those orders. You know it. I know it. I obey the Queens, not some Corpus _wanna-be_." The derision in the female's tone could have cut steel. "Harkonar really screwed up this time and as always, _we_ have to clean up their mess. We _cannot_ allow Grineer to follow that signal. Order Nina Tal to blow the charges."

"Yes, Ma'am." The Lancer saluted and keyed his com twice. No words, but a massive explosion sounded in the distance. Nina Tal was nothing if not enthusiastic about her explosions. Among other things. "Ma'am, they will pursue us. Are we taking the base with us?" He asked as she rose and hefted the human in her life support sack.

"Yes." The non-Grineer in Grineer armor snapped as she left the ice cave that had been her home for only a few short days. The body in her hands was the least of her burdens. "She is more than she seems. A regular human would have died from that wound before you got her to me. She also fought the sedative. Far stronger than a regular human and… She acted odd. Not as afraid as I would have expected." She shook her head. "This bears investigation, but right now? We need to get out of here."

"I want my protest logged." The Lancer said with a growl. "Helping bases is wrong."

"We are not going to _help_ her, Lancer..." The other corrected him grimly as they walked quickly through the ice cave. "...we are going to _use_ her. She likely has information that I can extract, but not here. As a tech, she had access to many Corpus technologies that any of our mechanical sorts would kill to have explained to them. My methods are slower than a Reclaimer's would be, but far more thorough and far less damaging. We will use her. This falls under my authority and I take responsibility. Understood?" She glared at the other until he nodded.

"Understood, Commander." The marine paused as both of them heard a voice. Nina Tal's voice was very quiet at the best of times, but she only got _this_ quiet when things were about to get very bad.

"Inbound traffic has arrived." The sniper was not happy, but she was not angry either. She was rarely anything but calm. very unlike a normal Grineer. Then again, she hadn't been a normal Grineer since meeting Anna any more than the Lancer was. His name was a series of numbers that Anna had never bothered remembering. Few male Grineer lived long enough to earn names. He had promise. So maybe.

" _Traffic?_ " The commander demanded. The sniper wouldn't have used that descriptor for Grineer. She was much more derisive of the rank and file clones. She always had been, she always would be. To her? She was their superior in every way. "Clarify!"

"More than one set of landing craft are vying for control of the area. An air battle has erupted." The hidden sniper replied. "Grineer are landing troops and have engaged Corpus proxies that seem to be coming in via portal. Not regular ones though. Odd colors and many different varieties. Not a standard Corpus force. I see no humans."

"Wait..." The commander paused and looked closely at her burden. Then she nodded as she pressed the plastic bag close to the woman's bare arm. The woman slept on, oblivious to the scrutiny as her arm was pressed into the plastic. Her breathing was unimpeded, the mask she wore would let her breathe in hard vacuum for a time. The commander found what she wanted and nodded. "Harkonar is going to _freak_ if they find out we have this one. We _cannot_ let them take this one. If it looks like Harkonar troops will, kill her and make it clean."

"Commander?" The Lancer demanded. "This position in untenable with two forces attacking it. We cannot leave with the airspace so congested."

"Then we will just have to move them, won't we?" The female called Anna said with a grim smile. "Soon, it will only be _one_ force attacking and _them_ we can handle. Nina Tal, set your weapon to emulate a Vulkar and you are free to fire on any Grineer you see. Try to maintain a low profile, but weapon free. And... I know it goes against the grain, but try to help the bots if you can."

" _Commander?_ " That came from both the hidden sniper and the marine who gawked at her.

"It is not the _Corpus_ attacking the Grineer." The commander turned her burden to the Lancer who hissed as he saw the triangle tattoo on the woman's arm. One that had been hidden by her coveralls until they had been removed to allow the Commander access to treat the woman's wound and check for other injuries. It had been haste, not a need for modesty that had let the woman keep her undergarments intact.

"Perrin."


	2. Chapter 2

**Battles, physical and other**

Grineer and Corpus hated one another.

Hate was pretty much the defining characteristic of almost all of the clones who made up the uncountable forces of the Twin Queens. It also pretty much defined the members of the Corpus. If you were not a member of their company, you existed to be used for profit or to be exterminated. Period. The Perrin Sequence was not _quite_ as hostile to everyone else as the regular Corpus was. They sought profit of course but not always as violently as the regular Corpus. The point was pretty much moot when dealing with Grineer however. There was no middle ground between the two groups.

The Grineer had started out as menial workers, cheap cloned flesh drones that were used, abused and then thrown away when broken by their Orokin and human masters. The history of the Grineer was one of violence, hate and repression. Finally, with the advent of the Twin Queens, the clones had found organization enough to overthrow their overlords. It had helped that the Orokin had been losing their war against the Sentients and in their desperation had armed the Grineer among other less than ideal solutions. (Letting the Infested loose was just one of many other horrible ideas that had been born of desperation.) They had conveniently forgotten what slaves often did when given the chance. Especially ones treated as abominably as the Grineer had been. It was no surprise that once Orokin had fallen, the Grineer had built a new society, made their own technology and started expanding to keep from ever being enslaved again. It was also no surprise that to a Grineer, the only good 'base' for baseline human was a _dead_ one.

Corpus on the other hand were descended from Orokin servants who had survived the Collapse. Even in the desolation left by the utter failure of so much of the wondrous technology that Orokin had taken for granted, humans were nothing if not adaptable to adversity and while they had not thrived, they had survived. Many pockets of humans had survived in hidden enclaves and colonies all around the Origin system. The foundation of a religion based on Profit had come as a shock to many but the mobile traders who had appeared were a known quantity to the various groups of survivors. No numbers existed outside of highly classified Corpus archives on how many humans still lived, but it was known that the human race was slowly recovering from the horrors of the Old War. The Corpus were the largest group and the most powerful, but they sought profit above all else. The Grineer had nothing to sell the Corpus generally and the Corpus were human.

This combination almost always meant battle and today was no exception. The clones had come ready for a fight and they got one. They were not expecting so many MOAs. At least a hundred MOAs of various kinds swept around the Grineer landing zones, in some cases, pushing them back all the way to the landing craft. The horrible weather kept any space borne craft from being able to portal troops directly to the surface, but the Grineer tried their usual tactics. They usually worked. Not this time.

The shells filled with clones were blown off course by high winds and landed in places where the clones crammed aboard either died fast on impact, drowning in frigid seas or in one case, hitting a Corpus Condor troop carrier by a freak chance and obliterating both. Some landed in places where they had no way of escaping and would die slow of exposure even with their armor. Only a few landed in the battle zone and those few…

"What the hell?" A proxy commander in another dropship orbiting well away form the battle area asked as he watched _five_ Grineer in rapid succession fall to shots that seemed to come from nowhere. They had just deployed from their shell and had been moving to take the MOA force from the flank when they had come under fire form someone outside the battle area. "Where did that fire come from? Anyone see?"

A chorus of distracted negatives came from the rest of the command team. The proxy commander focused on his battle. His quick report went up the stream.

* * *

A very long ways away

"No readings alive or deceased. All Corpus remains have been scanned and one is missing. She is not there." A quiet voice said to the others watched the battle unfold on a holographic display. The MOAs were being whittled down, but the Grineer were dying far faster. Not _just_ to MOA or Osprey fire! "Who is firing? That is not one of our weapons."

"I don't care!" An impassioned female voice snapped back. "Where is she! She _has_ to be there! We lost her downlink there! She _has_ to be there!"

"She is not." The other replied. "We are wasting our time and our resources. She is not there. Whoever is firing is good. Very good." They watched three more Grineer fall in almost mechanical style. One, two, three. A Napalm took a hit that bounded off his chest armor but the sheer impact threw him out of his cover and a RailGun MOA put the wretched thing out of its misery. He shook his head. "We are wasting our time. She is not there. No body."

"Shit." The Reverend Mother of the Corpus Clergy cursed and everyone stared at the hologram of the religious leader. "Don't start!" She growled. "I have had a bad day."

"This is a bad day for everyone." Commander Horatius of the Corpus Special Forces agreed. "Glast, we will keep looking." He promised the other in the room. Ergo Glast, leader of the Perrin Sequence, looked pained in the hologram that had allowed him to observe the action. Normally, no one would be allowed in a Special Forces command center even holographically but Special Forces and maybe Clergy. Anytime, but especially during action. This was _not_ a normal day. "If she is alive, we will find her. If she is not? We will find a body or records. We _will_ find her." That was an oath.

"Helen J-57 wanted to serve." Glast said very softly. "She wanted to help our people in the field. It was simple bad luck that had her assigned to that team before we could get the message for her to return. I am not looking forward to talking to Harold, but… These things happen and they both knew the risks."

"She is not _there_ , Glast." Horatius said with a growl. "That means someone took her. If so, they likely want information. That means they won't kill her. Even Grineer won't kill her at once if they want information."

"Part of me almost wishes we had found a body." Glast said heavily. "That might be kinder than what you wanted her for."

"Maybe. I don't agree with what is wanted but she had to be given the _choice_." The Reverend Mother slumped a bit. Her holo was fading as her mind worked many things at once. "If she is not there, then we have a- What the?"

Everyone stared at the image as it fuzzed and then reset.

"That is not on our end!" A com tech called. "That is a remote reconfiguration! Someone is trying to talk to us!"

"Someone with better tech than Grineer." The Reverend Mother said slowly. All three of the highest ranked people in the room shared a glance and then she nodded. "Put me on." That was a command and no one even hesitated. They knew better. "Yes?" She inquired mildly. "You wished to talk?"

"I assume you are Perrin Sequence or some such. You are not acting as I expected." The other voice was female. Calm. Assured. Totally in control. Not a Grineer voice or a synthesized Corpus one. Also not one that any of the listeners knew. "I assume you are after the Perrin girl. She is alive."

"And?" The Reverend Mother pressed.

"And the Grineer will not stop sending troops as long as they think a target is here." The other replied. "We are leaving. I suggest your forces do so as well. I also highly suggest you do not try to stop us or track us."

"And we should just trust you?" The Reverend Mother scoffed, but a laugh came from the other.

"Of course not!" The other replied, amused. "That said, if you want the girl dead, that can be easily done. Do you?"

"She has something we need." The Reverend Mother replied. "So no. We can live without it, but she would be valuable to the right person." Glast looked thunderous, but Horatious waved at him and he subsided. "Would it be worth inquiring what you want?"

"Not at this time, no." The other replied. "I can make sure she survives. As to how _intact_ she is, after? That I cannot say."

"How badly is she hurt?" The Reverend Mother asked. "If you can tell me without giving too much away."

"Oh, you are good, whoever you are! I can say that she took a high caliber round to the leg." The other replied. "I may or may not be able to save her leg. Do you want me to?"

"How much will it cost us?" The Reverend Mother demanded. She paused as the other sighed.

"Ah, Corpus. Always with the _Profit._ " The other had a scowl in her voice now. "I know you won't tell me why you have thrown away so many resources for her, but no humans. I know this. You will try to track this link and it will show me on the surface of the Sun." Everyone looked at the com tech who raised an incredulous face to them and nodded. "We could dance around in circles all day, but what would be the point? I am going to give you a demonstration of _why_ you should move your assets before you lose them all."

"Holy!" Everyone in the room chorused as every single remaining Grineer in the display _died_. They did not die all at once, but the shots that were still coming in from somewhere out of scan range were much faster now and almost metronome like in their efficiency. Almost every shot was a head shot and e _very single one_ killed a clone. A pause while the still unseen shooter apparently reloaded and then it happened again! The Grineer broke and ran. Everyone hissed at that. Grineer didn't _run!_ They obeyed orders to the death. None of them made it far. None of them escaped.

"More than one shooter?" Horatius asked almost sub-vocal. The Reverend Mother shrugged

"No." The other replied and everyone stiffened. "Yes, I heard that. And no, that was one shooter. She is good, no question and she has several large grudges against Grineer. I can have her target your proxies next if you wish." That was cold and hard. "I know you can send more and hold us in place until the Grineer get over their shock and send more troops. Is that what you want? Meaningless death? Because you cannot hit what you cannot _see_."

The Reverend Mother opened her mouth, but Horatius beat her to it. "You have several advantages. A hostage, a very good long range shooter as well as better tech than we have taken for granted."

"You are not some executive. You are military." The other replied, apparently shifting gears. "I do not doubt that you could find ways to harry us, to make our lives far harder. But in the end, that would not be a good idea for you. You know you do not have all the information."

"I never do. Doesn't stop me from doing my duty." Horatius replied evenly as the Reverend Mother stared at him He shrugged and then paused in shock. The unknown speaker had just said something under her breath. Something that sounded so familiar, But it couldn't be! Had she just said soemthing that translated to ' _Semper Fi_ '? _A Marine?_ He spoke just as softly. "Uuurah."

The Reverend Mother stared at him, just as shocked as he was. Everyone else just stared, confused. For a long moment, there was utter silence on the com and then the other spoke again. This time, she was less cold.

"Soldier. Do you wish her dead?" The other inquired.

"No." Horatius replied. "That is not the mission."

"I have my own mission." The other replied. "She is a complication that I frankly did not need. That said, she is a useful asset. One I can use to accomplish my mission. I will safeguard her while I accomplish my mission. After? We shall see." She paused and then spoke again. "I am going to give you _one_ piece of advice. Take it or leave it. The team she was part of was following a signal that acted like an Orokin homing beacon. That is exactly what it was. If you detect another? Blow it to hell. It will be far less messy if you do so fast and clean."

"That is..." Horatius said slowly and then paused. When he continued, it was careful. "That seems highly unlikely."

"So is this _conversation_." The other replied. "I will not harm the human woman Helen J-57 if I can help it. If I can use her? I will protect her. You have my word on that."

"Pull the proxies back." Horatius ordered and the techs leaped to do as commanded. "Let them go. Trust will not happen, but for now? You have the advantage."

"Things change, they always do. I will be in touch." The other cut whatever feed she was using and the voice vanished into static.

"You don't… _think_ …?" The Reverend Mother said softly, incredulous. "It _couldn't_ be _them!_ They coordinate with us."

"They do more than they say, _we_ do more than _we_ say. That is how black ops work." Horatius replied. Glast looked blank and Horatius shook his head. "You have no need nor desire to know. If this unknown female _is_ a member of the group we believe, I may be able to communicate, get more information. If not? She is a damn good actress. Either way? She won't kill Helen J-57. Either she will keep her word or she will use the leverage."

"Or both." Glast replied with a snap. "So many secrets. At least Helen J-57 is alive." He sighed. "If she wasn't lying about that."

"Honestly? She didn't seem the sort. I doubt that she lied about such." Horatius replied as he looked at the techs who were huddled over their consoles. "What did we get? Nothing from the transmission, I bet."

"Zip." One of the replied a bit absently. "But the rounds hitting the Grineer were ballistic. Not energy weapon so not Company."

" _We_ use ballistic weapons occasionally." Horatius replied mildly and the tech nodded. "Usually to maintain covers, but still, we do. What did you get?"

"Nothing on the rounds themselves." The other said slowly. "No sign of trajectory either. The shooter was a long ways away. Even if they had been closer, sensors were hashed by the weather in that area. Sir!" He jerked. "Grineer Ogma class transport heading into that area! Should we-"

"Do _nothing!_ " Horatius, the Reverend Mother and Glast all chorused that and looked at one another.

"That woman, if she _was_ one, had tech that is better than ours. Better than Grineer." The Reverend Mother said after a moment's thought. "Corpus tech cannot access a direct feed like that. I have never heard of _Grineer_ tech that can either. Add a Grineer transport into the list? Or something that looks like one?" She looked at Glast and Horatius who shook their heads in unison. "So...what does that leave?"

"Tenno." Glast said with a frown. "But could Tenno do that?"

"Could they?" The Reverend Mother said with a frown of her own. "Tech wise, I am not sure. I will inquire. I know of a sniper among them who could do just that." She nodded to the screen which showed the battlefield with the proxies withdrawing back to the portals. Horatius shuddered and she nodded. "He won't talk to you. He might, _might_ , talk to me. Maybe."

"Sir." The com tech spoke up again and Horatius waved for him to speak when the others looked at the commander. "Scan analysis shows the sniper weapon was a Grineer Vulkar but odd."

"Odd _how_?" Horatius pressed.

"There was no laser designation detected." The tech replied. "It fired twelve shots before reloading. It also reloaded far faster than any Vulkar in our database."

"I am not an expert on sniper rifles." The Reverend Mother said slowly. "How many rounds in the magazine for a Vulkar?"

"Six." Horatius replied instantly. "I have seen modified versions that hold eight, but they are rare." He shook his head. "Normal Grineer only have six. So, if that _was_ a Grineer, that was anything but normal."

"A normal Grineer would have just killed Helen J-57." Glast said with a growl. "Or taken her for interrogation. Not spoken as if she wanted to _help_ the girl." He slumped a bit. "I… What can I tell Harold?" He all but begged.

"Tell your subordinate that we are looking." The Reverend Mother reassured the distraught executive. "That we will do everything we can. We found no body and we do not believe her dead. We will continue to search. All of us." Horatius nodded soberly.

"Thank you, Reverend Mother, Commander." Glast nodded to both. "I know this is not your normal thing, but it is appreciated. We will pay our debts."

"Even with our commands, you lost a bunch of MOAs and Ospreys." Horatius pointed out. "We will see about recovering what we can. Quietly."

"Do not disturb the site." The Reverend Mother cautioned and both looked at her. "If I can talk to the sniper I think I can, then he will likely want to look at it. Let him see it and I will let you know when to send in salvage crews." That was a command. Both men nodded to her and Glast's holo vanished.

"You are not going to talk to who I _think_ you are, are you?" Horatius inquired carefully. "He doesn't like any Corpus much."

"He has cause." The Clergywoman said with a frown. "You have the harder job. There is only _one_ person who can _possibly_ walk in there and ask if _they_ have people out doing this. _You_ get to talk to your dad."

" _Thanks._ "


	3. Chapter 3

**Cold**

Helen J-57 was numb. Everything was numb. She was cold but nothing hurt now.

"Don't try to move just yet, Helen." A familiar voice said from close at hand and Helen tried to open her eyes, but they wouldn't. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. Panic rose, but then it was soothed away by familiar warmness. "Easy, Helen. Easy."

This was the one who called herself Anna. The one who the Grineer had reported to! Some kind of Grineer commander? What kind of Grineer commander would be _kind_ to a wounded human? That made no sense. Grineer killed human or… Helen J-57 swallowed hard as she remembered what _else_ they did to humans. Their idea of interrogation was as brutal as the clones themselves. She had seen what was left a few times. She had too many secrets! There were too many ways for enemies to break the minds of prisoners and contrary to the tales of heroes who managed, no one could resist modern interrogation methods. No one. She fought to move her jaw, to clamp down on a poison tooth that had been given to her for just such an occurrence, but her jaw did not move. It _did_ hurt. Right were the tooth was!

"Silly girl! I took it out." The other scolded her. "After all the effort I spent to keep you alive, you think I am going to let you do that?" A warm hand touched her brow. "Calm down, girl. I won't hurt you. I do not know why you were where you were and frankly? It is none of my business. I _do_ know you are Perrin Sequence and that makes you a ripe prize for any Harkonar scum who catches you. I cannot allow that."

 _What?_ Helen J-57 paused. That made even less sense. She knew the name 'Harkonar'. That was a clan of Grineer who built weapons for the various armies of clones. They were a huge group of almost industrialists. Not quite, since the Queens did command them, but close. They were about the closest thing the Grineer had to an industrial complex.

"I am going to activate your voice." The other said with a sigh. "I know you have questions, but right now? All you need to know is that I have a mission and I need to fulfill it. You can be an asset or a complication. Maybe both." She admitted.

Something changed and Helen felt pressure on her neck. She gasped and her voice sounded. It was not her voice! It sounded like a _Grineer!_ "What the-?" She demanded in horror. "What have you done to me?"

"I have saved your life and hidden you better than even your patrons could." The other reassured her. "No one will look for a Perrin Sequence operative among the Grineer."

"You made me a _Grineer?_ " Helen J-57 all but screamed that. Something slapped her face. Not hard, but enough to shock her.

"Calm. Down." The other commanded. "I have not made you Grineer. I cannot. Grineer were genetically engineered to be what they are. To be easy to clone. You have not been cloned and you will not be." She paused and regret sang in her tone now. "I couldn't save your leg. There was too much damage. I replaced it with Grineer prosthetics. I took your other leg and did the same to disguise the fact that you are human. Any normal human anywhere among Grineer is _dead_. Period. You know this."

"Why?" Helen J-57 pleaded.

"Because I don't want you dead." The other replied as if such were obvious. "I can use you or I can drop you somewhere in stasis. You haven't seen anything or heard anything that can compromise my mission. Not yet." Her voice turned hard. "If you had? You would not have woken up."

"What are you?" Helen J-57 asked, fear blossoming. It faded in the warmth again that was slowly suffusing her body. The cold was still there, but she was warmer.

"I am a woman with a mission." Anna replied. "The question now is what to do with you. Even as a Combat Technician, you know more about Corpus tech than is healthy to know around any Harkonar scum. They would literally tear you apart to get any information on how your proxies work. On what your guidelines demand for combat use of proxies. Hell, they would want to know how to field strip a Supra without overloading the power supply. Idiots cannot even figure that out."

"What?" Helen J-57 asked, confusion replacing her fear. "They know that. They have to know."

"Do they?" The other asked sadly. "Grineer are what they are. Uncomplicated. Uncompromising. For what they do, they can be incredibly cunning, but in the end? How many of them are smart? Hmmm? How many of them _need to be_?"

"I… I don't know." Helen J-57 admitted. "They would kill me for such basic information?" She all but begged. "They have lasers! The Formorians..." She paused as something patted her hand.

"Lasers are not hard to produce." Anna replied. "Scale wise? A Formorian is massive and takes a lot of resources to built, but technology wise? The most advanced Grineer tech would be child's play for you, let alone a Corpus scientist. If Harkonar got their hands on you… You would not die for a long, long time. You would tell them everything you know. You would not be able to resist their methods. The Grineer are not as refined in mind procedures as the Corpus is, but they are much better than most can imagine. The Queens are not happy with them but right now? We have larger problems."

"What would happen?" Helen J-57 felt odd. Her brain wasn't working as it should. Was she being manipulated? "What are you doing?" She pleaded as the warmth spread through her body.

"I am soothing you, no more. You are stressed. You have cause to be." The other reassured her. "I had to do some fairly significant replacements to make you look Grineer enough to pass casual inspection. It won't pass any serious scans, but it will keep you alive. If you wind up working with me? I will do more. If you turn out not to be useful, I will drop you somewhere that they can heal you, repair what I have done. I hope you will be useful. I could certainly use you."

"For what?" Helen J-57 asked as light blossomed in her vision. Her eyes- No. Her _ocular implants_ slowly activated, giving her brain time to adjust to the new inputs. She stared up at a woman in Grineer armor who had no implants! Or… She did show metal on her face, but the bits were far smaller than anything Helen J-57 had ever seen and _golden!_ Those were not Corpus implants or Grineer ones! They looked Orokin!

"My mission." The woman said with a smile that would have looked out of place on any Grineer face. It wasn't angry, or lust filled. It was kind and Helen J-57 felt her heart all but break as the woman looked sad. This wasn't her! She _was_ being manipulated! The woman smiled and patted her cheek. "Yes, I am manipulating you. It is not brainwashing. It is something far gentler. I am trying to see if I can use you. If so, I will protect you, use you as I must to accomplish my mission. If not? I give you my word, You will go to sleep and wake somewhere that they can heal you."

"Who are you?" Helen J-57 all but stammered that. "Are you Orokin?"

"Not hardly. No golden skin." The other scoffed as something eased down around Helen J-57's right eye. "They had Dax, they didn't need pure human soldiers or _want_ them. We died too fast, you see." A grimace accompanied that and Helen J-57 hated seeing the woman upset. She wanted to see the woman smile and when Anna did? Helen's world was complete. She was warm and complete now. "Yes, you will do. I can use you, Helen. That is your name now. Rest. We will talk later."

"Helen is my name now." The former Corpus soldier said softly, her ocular implants slowly dimming as soft music filled her mind. "I will serve you."

"Yes, you will and unlike Orokin _or_ Tenno, I take care of my servants."

The soft, gentle voice took Helen to slumber accompanied by an oddly lulling cadence.

* * *

What passed for a Grineer med-lab

Anna stepped back from the form on the table and nodded to the pair of Reclaimers who stood at attention nearby.

"Adjustments are done." Anna snapped in Grineer. The clones had little use for politeness. Less for formality in most settings. "She is mine. Check her augmentation and report any abnormalities. Do not tamper with her. Touch her inappropriately and die. If word leaks to Harkonar about what was done here, you will both take at least a day to die. Then I will revive you both and give you to the Queens." Not a threat. A fact.

Both Reclaimers slammed closed fists to their chests. Neither wore armor. The gore smeared smocks both wore were red and black. Nightwatch.

She swept from the room, ignoring the guards in red and black armor who formed up around her. They were mainly to protect the others _from_ her. Not the other way around, Grineer had learned early not to take this being lightly. She made her way through the Galleon and towards the bridge. The Grineer she passed ignored her for the most part. Only a few shied away from her. Again, they had learned. Do your job and nothing _but_ your job and there were no problems. Do something else or worse, mouth off at the human and things _got_ _messy_.

Her team joined her. Nina Tal, silent as normal. The sniper's rifle was slung and her Brak hand cannon in hand. Even here, even now, she never lowered her guard. The other clone was new to the team, but he was showing promise. He had been Nightwatch when she had seen him display a level of tactical acumen that was odd to say the least from no rank Lancers. He had won a battle with a sudden flanking attack, taking command of a section of clones who had lost their commander. Such unauthorized actions always had consequences even with a victory. She had saved him from being 'adjusted' to obedience, a fate which he had accepted without question. Now? She was slowly grinding away the arrogance and seeing the sheer potential that lay underneath. He was good. It remained to be seen if he would survive what was coming or not. If so? Maybe he would earn a name instead of the serial number he used. The last member of her team was the oddest and one she really wasn't sure about. The Carrabus drone had simply appeared one day and hovered close to her any time it could. It was clearly defending her. It had proven that twice when Harkonar assassins had tried to kill her. She hadn't told _anyone_ that she had seen it _vaporize_ one. It was clearly dangerous, but not so much to her. She figured the Queens had sent it and her few inquiries had been ignored. It did help her. So that was all good, but she did keep an eye on it.

She strode onto the bridge of the ship and the commander turned to looked at her. She nodded to him. "She is mine. I will use her. The mission here was accomplished, if not as cleanly as I had hoped. We did get another data point. Any luck on triangulating?"

"No." The other turned back to the screen, his visible face blank. She knew his opinion of humans, but he also wasn't stupid,. He was not going to cross the Queens and certainly not on this. After? He would stab her in the back, repeatedly if he could. Until then? She was needed. While that grated on him, he was professional enough to work with her and she appreciated that. She had worked with lots of people who had hated her.

"Damn." Anna sighed and shook her head. "There are a lot of places that the blasted thing could use to connect. Is Harkonar still sniffing the trail I left them?"

"Even _they_ cannot miss the trail of bodies you and yours left in your wake." Sargas Ruk replied, amusement rising. "It will not come here?" It was rare for him to sound worried and rarer still for him to do so in public. He had cause.

"With the beacon blown to pieces and the remainder buried under tons of ice?" Anna shook her head. "It will self repair, all Orokin tech did. If it does, I doubt that even that can send a message though so many tons of ice." She paused and shook her head. "That said? I honestly do not know. It might." She said very quietly.

"We will leave a force here." Ruk replied and Anna nodded. "Not enough to dislodge the human vermin… No offense..." His correction was clearly not truthful, but Anna let is slide. He and the other Grineer had cause to hate humans.

"Don't bother being polite, General." Anna scoffed. "It is wasted on me just as it is with you. I am not Orokin." The hate in her tone matched Ruk's. "Harry them as you will. I have a mission."

"You have a mission, Major." Ruk nodded to her and she nodded back. They did not like each other, or trust each other, but both understood the problem here. The risks and the consequences for failure.

"I have to figure out how to accomplish said mission." Anna stared at the screen and shook her head. "Neptune is out. Too many forces moving back and forth. Any signal there will be detected and acted on before we could stop them." She frowned. "I managed a short term communication with someone, Perrin I think." Again, Ruk looked as if he wanted to spit, but refrained. "I warned them to destroy the beacons. I doubt they will act on it."

"Such would not be typical of the Profit crazed fools, no." Ruk sighed deeply. "They will try to dismantle them or activate them."

"Either of which will be bad." Anna slumped. "Try to dismantle them, and it activates the homing beacon. Which is why the Orokin never did." She shuddered and Ruk _shared it!_ "Say what you will about the gold skinned morons, they _did_ value their own _skins_."

"This is a big system." Ruk said after a moment. "We are searching, the Queens commanded and we obey. Any who find such will report it. Well..." He corrected himself grimly. "All but Harkonar."

"Because after all, it is only _tech._ They can use it or learn from it or just make it not work anymore." Anna said sourly. "Any tech at all. Who _cares_ if it is a half-mad Orokin AI in command of the damned thing? _They_ don't give a shit. It is not like it could kill _everything_ in this _solar system_ if it so chose! Morons!"

"Or if the Sentients got hold of it." Ruk said softly. "Damn Tengus. Damn Regor. Idiots. Those tombs were sealed for a _reason!_ "

"No joke." Anna sighed. "At least, we haven't drawn any more attention and with the Lotus occupied however it is, the blasted Tenno have not been as active, thank goodness."

"Much as I detest Tenno, they are quite powerful." Ruk allowed. "Could they stop this thing?"

"They didn't before." Anna snapped and he turned to look at her. "You are not cleared for that. Only the Queens are." She snapped a series of codes and Ruk nodded slowly. "You know the really sad thing? On the surface, it wasn't a bad idea at all." Ruk all but goggled at her and she shook her head. "Throughout human history, there were those who conquered and those who defended. That didn't changed when the golden skinned fools took over."

"And?" Ruk snarled.

"And think about it, general." Anna said, her eyes far away. "If you only had to focus on offense, not had to worry about defending _anything_ , what could you do?" Ruk stared at her and then he slowly relaxed. "What could you not conquer if you _never_ had to worry about defending supply lines? Never had to worry about factories or convoys being attacked? Never had to worry about enemy actions that bypassed your own forces to strike where you were weak?"

"When you put it like that, it does make a certain amount of sense." The hulking Grineer allowed. "Not much."

"No, not much." Anna agreed. "We are in full agreement that this was way too far even for such desperate times. We need to stop it and I honestly do not know if any weapon in this system _can_. I know that no defenses could even slow the Artemis bolts." She took a deep breath. "They tried everything they had."

"Orokin shields did not work?" The Grineer asked, concern rising further. Anna shook her head. "Powerful indeed."

"And precise." Anna shivered. "Take out a ship or just the _commander_ of said ship. Leave the enemy leaderless. Or destroy them one by one in job lots. Someone put it quite well long ago. 'If we can see it, we can hit it. If we can hit it, we can kill it. True words, especially for this."

"The ultimate sniper." Ruk said softly and Anna nodded.

"Yes. Snipers have always been about precision, not raw power." Anna sighed and shook her head. "One place is a good as another at the moment. I know there was a beacon on Umbriel, one of the moons of Uranus. That is Tyl Regor's domain, no?" She inquired.

"He won't be happy with us showing up, but he will obey the Queens even without a full briefing." Ruk replied. "He does know how to keep a secret and after the last time? He will not risk their displeasure again. He may be a fool, but he is not an idiot." That was grudging.

"Good. Set course for Uranus." The being once known as Major Kristiana Keras steeled herself as Grineer General Sargas Ruk nodded to her and started barking orders.

They would stop this threat.

And they would do it without the Tenno scum.


	4. Chapter 4

**Distrust**

"You want _what?_ "

The Reverend Mother could not really argue with the sheer disbelief that sounded in the voice of the being who faced her. The Nyx Prime warframe that housed Tiana, clan leader of the Karl's Shadow clan of Tenno, was stunned almost to the point of sputtering her words. Setting up this meeting hadn't been easy. Tiana was always busy these days and she had little love for the Corpus. _Any_ Corpus. Even Corpus who secretly worked with the Lotus. Maybe _especially_ those at the moment. The Reverend Mother had not asked.

Unfortunately _getting_ the meeting was likely going to be the _easy_ part.

"I know it sounds crazy, but I need to talk to Tenno Aeron." The Clergywoman said as calmly as she could in a virtual world surrounded by who knew how many Tenno safeguards to keep her abilities at bay. "I am not a sniper. I never was. We have encountered something that may, _may_..." She said firmly. "...be a highly trained and extremely well equipped Grineer sniper." Tiana stared at her and the Reverend Mother shook her head. "I do not have all of the specifics on hand. I can get them fairly quickly."

"The short version will do." Tiana said with a growl. "You know how Aeron feels about the Corpus."

"I do." The Reverend Mother nodded. "And frankly? I agree with him a lot of the time. Most of us Clergy do. The Corpus is evil. That said, we, the Clergy, were working to recover a Perrin operative who was in deep cover. The team she was part of was slaughtered from extreme range. Preliminary examination of the site shows the shooter was not within a kilometer." Tiana did not react and the Reverend Mother continued. "I watched almost thirty Grineer die in a matter of minutes. Most to headshots. Tell me that wasn't a sniper."

"Aeron was busy." Tiana snapped.

"None of us thought it was him anyway. He normally doesn't use a Vulkar." The Reverend Mother replied and Tiana stiffened a little. "We are not enemies today, Tenno." She slumped a bit. "Tiana, please… The girl in question may be Kieko's only chance."

"Kieko?" Tiana inquired and then hissed. "The Voice!"

"Yes, the Voice who was altered by that madman Lorinos." The hate in the Reverend Mother's voice might have scared a Grineer Nightwatch. "She was, is, a member of us, but she is broken. She cannot hear us, although we can hear her at times. She always was broken, after she lost her family to the Grineer. She is not suicidal now, and we are not sure why, but we are glad of it. We all love her."

"This is personal, isn't it?" Tiana asked, unbending a little.

"Yes." The Reverend Mother said softly. "She was the first face I saw in my Test. Even as messed up as I was, seeing an animal face superimposed over hers, she was kind to me." Tiana stiffened right back up and the Reverend Mother shook her head. "I do not, have not and _will_ not condone what they did. It could have gone wrong in so many ways, half of which they had and _have_ no idea about. Things even they understand that they can _never_ know. But they needed me, Tiana. They needed me so very badly and the task is one I am suited for." She slumped a bit. "We lost René two nights ago." She fought tears even with all the help the Clergy and her faith could give her. "We buried her next to her son."

"I am sorry." The condolence was heartfelt. Odd, but then again, Tiana _had_ known the Tenno who had become the Reverend Mother very well.

"She died in her sleep. She went to sleep and didn't wake up. A gentler end than I deserve for sure." The Clergywoman shook her head, fighting for control and managing. "She died at peace. She is beyond help now, but Kieko is _not_. The alterations..." She made a face. "You know?"

"I know." Tiana's tone was flat again, but this time the anger was not directed at the Clergywoman. "Whatever is done to that piece of slime _cannot_ possibly be _enough_."

"Oh, I dunno." The Reverend Mother smiled grimly. "Jenni said Eliza was contemplating virtually dipping him slowly feet first in oil that was heated just shy of boiling. That would kill him, but not quickly. Liquid burns hurt like hell. Basically broiling him alive. Then she revives him in that virtual world and does it again. Jenni quoted her saying that a _thousand_ times might curb some of her bloodlust and she might let him perish after that many. Maybe."

"If _anyone_ has earned that, _he_ has." Tiana growled. "Kieko?"

"Brianna has managed to undo the alterations." The Reverend Mother held up a hand when Tiana exclaimed in joy. "There is a downside."

"There always is." Tiana sighed. "What is it? And how does it pertain to the girl?"

"It is odd." The Reverend Mother said with a sigh. "Kieko refused to have the…" She made another face. "... _bits_ destroyed like Abigail did. She says she wants to create another family or at least make some good come of the evil. She is very determined to do just that. Fanatic about it."

"So, she wants… _what_?" Tiana demanded, clearly confused by this.

"The bits are fully human and she wanted to give a human woman the chance to have a family. But not just _any_ human woman." The Reverend Mother sighed deeply. "Her criteria are quite stringent and we have only found three humans who meet all of them. One of those was killed by Grineer, another was Infested and while the Caretakers took her, that rules her out. The third..." She broke off as Tiana coughed.

"Disappeared." Tiana finished. The Reverend Mother nodded. "And Kieko?"

"We have not told her yet. We do not know how she will react and we fear the worst. She is one small step from madness even now with all the help Brianna can give her." The Clergywoman admitted. "Part of me kind of hoped Tenno had taken Helen J-57. If so, there was a chance she would survive. It wasn't Tenno. I know Tenno methods. This? This, I don't know."

"A Vulkar? That usually means Grineer." Tiana mused. "But not a Grineer, you say?"

"No." The Reverend Mother groaned softly. "It is odd. We asked Perrin to extract her but before they could, her distress call was signaled. She was on Europa in a Corpus base, so we feared the worst. Perrin sent in an extraction force to determine her status and ran smack dab into a Grineer assault force. We were there to advise and Special Forces had command. But again, it was odd. The Grineer were not there to fight Corpus. From their reactions, they were not expecting Corpus."

"But… Europa is _claimed_ by the Corpus." Tiana was even more confused now and the Reverend Mother nodded.

"Yes." The Clergywoman nodded. "The girl was not there. Nor was her body. The rest of her team was. What was left of them anyway. They had been ambushed, apparently by a sniper. My first thought _was_ Aeron, because yes, I know how he feels about Corpus." She shrugged. "We were quite surprised when _another_ force intervened in the battle between the Grineer and the proxies. A force firing from extreme range with incredible precision using a Vulkar rifle."

"Ouch." Tiana made a face of her own. "That is not good. Ballistae are dangerous enough as it is."

"Yeah, add to that? They only fired at the _Grineer_." Tiana actually recoiled at the Clergywoman's words and the Reverend Mother nodded. "It wasn't Steel Meridian. They hate Perrin so might not want to talk to them, but they are not that good. Our analysts are going nuts trying to figure out if Grineer have another splinter faction."

"Grineer cloning produces aberrations every so often." Tiana mused. "Aberration like me." Whatever else she was going to say was cut off.

"You are _not_ an aberration!" The Reverend Mother snarled and Tiana gawked at her. "Do not call yourself that! _Never_ call yourself that! You are yourself and a wonderful thing! Karl saw it before any of the rest of us! He groomed you for what you are. Yes, you are new. Yes, you didn't see all of what we saw. That is a _good_ thing!" She snapped. "You didn't _do_ all of what we did. No one won in the Old war, Tiana. No one. You are different, but not an aberration. That word implies wrong or bad. You are neither. You are Tenno. _Act it!_ " The clan leader was gawking openly at her and the Reverend Mother slumped before sighing deeply. "I apologize. It has been a bad week."

"You did not remember René, but she _was_ your daughter. Even knowing she could not survive, burying her had to hurt. I do not know anything about children except what I have read, but I hurt when we lost Karl." Tiana spoke slowly and carefully. "Seeing Jac with her kids… I do not know how I feel. I was made to be a weapon and now? I am more so. Kieko wants to make more children?" She asked and the Reverend Mother nodded.

"She wants with all of her heart to give someone hope." The young seeming woman in the nun's habit slumped. "She did. The girl's father was beside himself. He is one of Glast's subordinates. He came to us. And we failed."

"If the body wasn't there, then you may not have failed yet." Tiana sighed. "I will see if Aeron will talk to you." She vanished for a moment and then she was back, with a familiar dark Loki warframe at her side. He held no weapons, but he radiated barely controlled hostility. "He wants to hear it from you."

"Kieko wants to use the horror that Lorinos subjected her to in order to give a human who had no chance at a family a chance at children." The Reverend Mother said very quietly, not daring to move Aeron was volatile at the best of times. Corpus pushed every one of his buttons. "She found a potential mother and contacted the family. The father of the girl came to _us_. She was a deep cover Perrin operative, so we had to be very careful about extracting her. Before the Special Forces could, her team was ambushed by what was in all appearances a Grineer sniper who comes close to your skill." Aeron stiffened slightly and she continued. "Her body was not there. Whoever it was took her."

"And?" Aeron's word was controlled, calm, but as always fury sang just beneath it.

"And I have not told Tiana the worst part yet." The Reverend Mother said sadly. "I… I am hurting." The Clergy sang to her and it eased her a bit but she focused on the two Tenno in front of her. "Our com link to the proxies was hacked. Tech that no Corpus has. At least… not _now_."

"Oh my god!" Tiana swallowed hard and the Reverend Mother nodded.

"In all the excitement, no one else realized. They will be shocked, sad, all that when they do." The clergywoman fought tears. "It _really_ _fucking_ _ **hurts**_ _!_ " She snapped and then slumped. "Sorry, sorry… I.."

The horrified gasp that crisscrossed the massed mind of the Clergy as they all realized the truth was sad and sick. The Reverend Mother jerked as another form appeared beside her, but instead of talking, the large woman in the habit simply pulled her close and held her as leader of the Clergy started to _sob_.

"Greta! No! They will kill you!" The Reverend Mother begged, but the other just held her.

"Kill me if you will, Tenno. I will _not_ let my friend hurt alone!" The Clergywoman said with a growl. "Why didn't you _say something_ , you silly woman! None of even _thought_ about that! Easy, easy." She worked with both hands and voice to soothe the distraught elder clergywoman. "None of us even considered what could have hacked a MOA's feed so easily."

"A C&C MOA." Aeron said very quietly. Greta nodded, but continued to soothe the crying Reverend Mother. "Like Sheila."

" _AND SIERRA!_ " The Reverend Mother screamed and then she flared with energy. Her scream turned from rage to terror. " _NO! Greta! Get away f_ _r_ _om me!_ "

Two iron hands clamped onto her shoulders and her energy faded before it could do more than flash. Neutralized by other Tenno power. She stared up through tear streaked eyes at the Tenno as both shook their heads in unison.

"She needs rest." Tiana said softly. "Real rest."

"And she _refuses!_ " Greta all but snarled that. "Ever since the funeral. 'Too much to do' she says! Silly woman! Her grief is tearing her apart. We can all see that. Even such as you cannot do it _all!_ We are here to help! _Let us!_ "

"I… I can't..." The Reverend Mother pleaded. "I will dream of _her_. Of _them_ and I..."

"No, you won't." Tiana promised as she laid a hand on the Reverend Mother's head. Aeron laid his hand on hers and their combined power flared through the clergywoman, a pulse of energy that was oddly soothing. She gasped and collapsed into Greta's hands. Then she vanished from the virtual world and Greta stood for a moment before straightening.

"We will see her in bed and cared for as best we can. If my life be forfeit, then so be it." Greta nodded to the two Tenno. "We do love her. Dark, rough edges and all. She is our Reverend Mother, but more than that? She is our _friend_." The two Tenno shared a look and then shook their heads in unison, but Greta did not relax.

"On that we can agree, if very little else, likely." Aeron said as he stepped back. "Give me the coordinates of this ambush. I will check it out." A series of numbers appeared on one wall and he nodded, but paused when Greta coughed.

"There is one other thing." Greta said when the Tenno looked at her. "I do not know what it means, but Horatius and the Reverend Mother _did_. I am not cleared for everything and I know that. I do not _want_ to be." She shuddered and both Tenno nodded approval.

"Smart woman." Tiana said mildly. "What 'thing'?"

"Whoever communicated with us was a female who did not sound Grineer. She said something very odd in a language that none of us know." Greta said with a frown. "It is not in any of our databanks. None. But the Reverend Mother and Commander Horatius both knew it."

"They know a lot that many do not wish to." Aeron's voice was dry now. "What words?"

"Vsegda veren." Greta said softly. "None of us..." She paused as Tiana and Aeron looked at one another, blank faced. "You know what that means, don't you?"

"You are right." Aeron said softly. "You are not cleared for that. What is more? You do not _want_ to know." He sighed deeply. "I may be a stubborn old Tenno, but I know when I am wrong. No regular Corpus ever would have put herself into this place for someone even as distraught as your Reverend Mother is. There is no Profit in it."

"I speak for _all_ of us. You are _not_ wrong." Greta retorted. "The Corpus are evil and need to be trimmed a _lot_." Both Tenno stared at her and she snarled. "The Reverend Mother is not the only Clergy member who has lost children to their evil. She is just the most recent. Do what you will, Tenno but know that even if in your rage you slay Clergy members in ignorance of their roles, none of us will blame you. _None_. We often cannot stop them. You _can_."

"I am honestly not sure how to take that." Aeron said and Greta smiled.

"Then my work is done. Confusing people is what I do. I will _try_ to get her to eat when she wakes. It will be far too soon. She needs time and she won't give it to herself." She muttered something rude under her breath as she vanished.

"Not our problem." Tiana said when Aeron looked at her. "We need to talk to Karen. Good thing we got the new portal set up that doesn't need a schedule."

"I am scheduled to go give a seminar on long range shooting." Aeron mused as the world fell away and they found themselves back in their dojo. "If there _is_ some high ranked Grineer sniper out there… Such might make good training for snipers."

"Aeron." Tiana groaned as they walked towards the portal room.

"The only real way to teach some things is in the field, Tiana." Aeron shrugged as they walked. "You know this. Yes, such would be very dangerous, but in the end, it might be worthwhile." He paused and then digressed. "She will need help."

"She won't accept it." Tiana replied. "She cannot trust us anymore than we can trust her. But that was not faked."

"No." Aeron allowed. "After what happened to Sierra? _Anyone_ dumb enough to try and fake _that_ will get what they deserve from her and _lots_ of people who knew Sheila." He had a rare sad smile in his voice now. "Sheila was a good kid."

"What else could hack a proxy feed so easily, Aeron?" Tiana asked as they approached the portal, only to pause as it flashed and two forms stood there. The pitch black Nekros was furious and the Corpus soldier beside him? Horatius was nervous. With reason.

"I see you been told too. If someone is playing with such tech as what was done to Serene's daughters, _lots_ of people gonna have problems with it." Nikis snapped. Tiana eyed him and Nikis scoffed. "I am old, I ain't stupid. 'Vsegda veren'. 'Semper Fidelis'. That ain't common knowledge for _anyone_."

"If it _was_ a Marine operation, then this Helen J-57 is likely there." Tiana said and Nikis nodded. "If it wasn't?" She asked as the quartet formed up.

"Then we find out what the hell is goin' on." Nikis snapped. " _Last_ thing we need is some super Grineer sniper runnin' around. Most have enough trouble with the _regular_ ones."

"If needed, I can scout the site." Aeron offered, not looking at Horatius. "It might even make good training." Horatius and Nikis both laughed at that. Aeron glanced at the Corpus soldier who shrugged.

"I see _that_ definition hasn't changed." Horatius made sure his hands were still and in plain sight as the portal flared golden and suddenly, they were elsewhere, surrounded by forms in familiar uniforms. Many of whom had drawn weapons on seeing Horatius in his Corpus attire. None of them relaxed as Nikis strode forward.

"Where is the Gunny?" The Nekros demanded. "We got a problem."

"Seeing as how you just brought a _Corpus_ through a portal that only _Tenno_ or _our people_ are supposed to go through..." Gunnery Sergeant Miguel Smith's voice preceded the ancient sergeant into view. He had no weapon in hand, but he was scowling. "...yeah, I would say we have a problem."

" _More_. Vsegda veren." Nikis snapped and the sergeant recoiled as if struck. Everyone else in uniform stiffened as the sergeant all but groaned. Nikis nodded. "Bad _enough_?" He asked coldly. The sergeant stared from one Tenno to another to another, and then at Horatius who dd not move at all. Then he nodded.

"Yeah. Bad enough."


	5. Chapter 5

**Special**

"Vsegda veren."

Jesse was the representative who had come when the Marines had asked for the Royal Family to attend and no one minded. The Empress was busy with her family and no one in their right mind pulled Eliza from her family time. She tended to get a bit grumpy when that happened. She was not a cruel ruler, but she had all kinds of ways to make her displeasure felt.

Jesse was young. She was Tenno. She was not a warrior. These might have been strikes against her in any other human company. Not here. No Orokin Marine would ever offer her anything but the utmost respect. Part of that was simple self preservation. She was a Princess and a Cyberlancer. She was not to be trifled with at any time. That said? They knew that she had literally _died_ to complete her mission once. Any and all of them understood such self-sacrifice. It was their job. It hadn't been _hers_. She had been a civilian. A non-combatant. The courage and honor she had shown in every episode since then had only cemented the respect that every Orokin Marine gave the Royal Family.

 _Anyone_ offering Jesse the slightest affront in _any_ Marine's presence would be lucky if they wound up in the hospital. One poor soul , had wound up in the _morgue._ He hadn't known A) Who Jesse was despite the cloaked Tenno shadowing her, and B) That a squad of Marines had been just around the corner as backup for Draco. The Empress hadn't been happy about having the poor slob revived, but she _had_ understood. Oh, did she _ever!_ The Tenno Royal Guard wouldn't have been _nearly_ so restrained if anyone had dared spit on the Empress. That guy would likely never spit on another female who got in his way again.

But right now? Jesse was worried. She had cause.

"I thought you were the last, Gunny." Jesse said very quietly from where she stood by one all of the large briefing room that the visitors had been ushered into and she had been called to when Nikis had explained. "The last survivor of the Orokin Marine Corps. I thought all of them died in the War and then in the Collapse."

It was not common for non-Marines to call the ancient being 'Gunny', but he made allowances for the Royal Family. He wasn't stupid. He also respected Jesse.

"So did I, Princess." The sergeant was unhappy, that was abundantly clear. He was strictly formal and he only got that way when he was holding onto his temper by his fingernails. Then again, this was not a good situation. "That said? They were all sneaky as hell. It was the job."

"Okay." Jesse drew in a deep breath and then nodded to Horatius who had not moved a muscle since arriving in the room. The two Marines with rifles aimed at him were a good reason not to. "Stand down." She raised a hand in a placating gesture. "He likely wanted to come here about as much as you wanted him here." She said to the Gunny who glowered, but then nodded. "And if there is one thing Corpus Special Forces can do, it is keep a secret." She smiled at Horatius who slowly relaxed as both Marines safetied their weapons and lowered them. They did not sling them and would not. "It is good to see you again, Commander. Even under such circumstances."

"It is good to see you too, Princess." Horatius paused as Jesse scoffed.

"Royal Command: Call me Jesse or get dropped for push-ups." More than one of the surrounding Marines laughed at the Commander's stunned expression. Everyone else looked amused, even the four Tenno.

"I do not think I can do that… Um..." Horatius said weakly. Jesse arced an eyebrow at him and he swallowed hard. "Um… Princess Jesse."

"Nice save." Jesse smirked as he growled at her. "Better. You did help change my diapers when I was a babe, commander." He stared at her and she shrugged. "Various people told stories about you when you came back. That was one my dad shared, how you came and helped in the nursery. You were missed."

"So are you." Horatius said with a sigh. "Mission, Ma'am?" He all but begged as everyone chuckled at his discomfort.

"Yeah, mission." Jesse turned back to the wall that shimmered with her code and then froze to show the holographic display he had shared with them. Grineer bodies lay everywhere along with pieces of Corpus proxies and few, very few Corpus bodies. The display zoomed in one one of the Grineer and she shook her head as she saw the Lancer's head tore to pieces, his helmet in fragments. "High power rifle. Long range. Extremely accurate. Definitely a sniper. Gunny?" She asked the Marine who nodded and stepped closer to her. Not that close, since Draco was against the wall and wary as always.

"We used high power rifles occasionally, but that was generally a special issue weapon." Gunny Miguel said with a frown. "We rarely had the need for them. _We_ have a couple of specialized anti-material rifles in the arsenal, but they are temperamental at the best of times and fairly high tech. Plasma ionized propellant, laser guided rounds. Most of what I used was low or zero-tech to keep from being hacked."

"Yes." Jesse agreed. "That is really the only way." She _would_ know. "All of us here are cleared except the Commander and we know he can keep a secret. What can you tell us, Gunny?" That was a command, if voiced politely and the sergeant nodded, assuming a position of parade rest.

"The Orokin Marine Corps was never very big, _Princess Jesse._ " His eyed twinkled as she made a face, but did not interrupt. He sobered. "We were all generalists. Good at what we did and highly skilled at anything and everything we could learn, but in the end? We did specialize a bit. I am an armor commander. Give me an armored fighting vehicle or a squad of them and I can do just about any tactical mission that calls for such. Ask me to free a bunch of hostages from whoever is holding them without hurting any? I probably could." No bravado. Fact. "But I am not 100% sure of that. Special Ops are not what I trained for the most."

"I know the Marine Corps had branches." Jesse said as Nikis harrumphed. "Grandmaster, please. I am trying to understand the situation." She all but begged the Nekros.

"What is to understand?" Nikis snarled and everyone shied away from him. "They are doing what they did. Period."

"We do not know that." Jesse said before anyone else could. She shook her head. "All that we know is that someone used an ancient phrase in a very odd way." She paused as Horatius shook his head. "Commander?"

"We know that whoever or _what_ ever that was, she dealt with me better than with the Reverend Mother." The Corpus soldier said very slowly. "She understood me, I understood her. She had the advantage and she knew it. I had a translation program in my helmet that is better than any Corpus have, thanks to the Clergy and our fragile alliance, but I didn't know what it meant either. I just reacted. I bet she did too."

"Wouldn't be the first time an op was blown for such a reason." The Gunny shrugged. "Won't be the last."

"No." Horatius agreed. "The thing is, she could have taken out the proxies. Why didn't she?" He asked the room.

"Lack of ammo? Might have given away her position? Some other reason?" The gunny said with a sigh. "No way to know. Might be germane and if we find out more, we might be able to figure that out. Right now, we have a whole lot of nothing."

"I beg to differ." Nikis snarled and paused as Draco coughed. "Draco..." He groaned.

"Calm down, Nikis." Draco's voice, as almost always, was calm and clear. "You are unsettling Jesse."

"You of _all people-_ " Nikis broke off as Draco uncloaked and stepped right up to the furious Nekros. "Ah..."

"I said 'calm down'!" Draco's snarl stilled everything. He was so calm most of the time that few realized just how dangerous he truly was. The silver Volt Prime warframe had its hands on both of his swords as Nikis sputtered. "You are angry. We get it. I am angry. We _are_ all angry. The Marines are almost certainly even angrier than _we_ are! But you are scaring the one I ward! Calm the hell down! _Now!_ "

It was highly likely that no one had dared to say such a thing to Nikis in a long, long time. Perhaps Janet. But likely not to his _face!_ She had sense.

"Draco. I am all right." Jesse stepped to her bodyguard's side. "You are angry. Nikis is angry. I bet Tiana and Aeron are angry." She looked at the other Tenno in the room and they shook their heads, silent. "We need more information. I am Tenno, so I am also angry. But I am also a Princess, so that means I have to look at the larger picture than vengeance." She shook her head. "The one who did it paid. He was acting alone. You know this. _Both_ of you know this." When she spoke again, code flared around her. A sign that her own temper was flaring. "Both of you, calm down. Or do I need to get Janet or worse, _Iriana_ in here?"

Her smile was wicked as Nikis started to choke. Then he and Draco started to laugh. Suddenly, _everyone_ was laughing. Then again, no one _smart_ angered the Healer. Many had found that out to their cost. Even _Nikis_ stepped carefully around the Healer when she got angry.

"You _would!_ " Nikis between laughs as he mock shuddered. Jesse nodded and he slumped, the dark energy that had been gathering around his body fading. Draco likewise, his own barely visible dark silver energy faded and both nodded to Jesse. "We are all mad, Princess." Nikis said heavily when his mirth abated. "We are gonna be."

"I know." Jesse laid a hand on Nikis' arm and he covered it with his hand. "It makes _me_ angry and _I_ was not _there_. You know how the Empress feels about such, she lived among Tenno for years, Nikis. You _know_ what she will say and _I_ speak with her voice here. _We_ will handle this." The royal 'We' came through loud and clear. "You know we will."

"I do." Nikis said very quietly and then nodded to Draco. "Ya is right. I ain't rational 'bout this."

"How can you be? You were there." Draco replied as he stepped back to the wall and recloaked.

"Really?" The Gunny asked, awe and horror in his voice. Nikis nodded, stiff with repressed anger. "Shit, I..."

"That is the past." Jesse said with a growl that had everyone stiffening, Tenno and human alike. "That shameful episode is the _reason_ that the Orokin Marines instituted such rigorous psyche screening for even the _entry_ into their ranks. What that moron did very nearly got every last Marine killed. You know what they could have done the sames as I do, Gunny."

"Yeah." The Gunny shook himself. "You are right, Princess." No trace of humor now. "We need more information. If it _is_ spetznatz, then they will have left very few traces. And if a spetznatz is working with or worse, _training_ Grineer…"

" _Again_." Jesse said darkly and the Gunny sighed. "And yes, I _know_ desperate times call for desperate actions, but _holy shit_ , Gunny!" Everyone goggled at her as she swore. " _That_ was a Class A, Grade 1…" She broke off with a grimace. "There are no words even in _Marine_ vocabulary to do that idiocy justice." Everyone in the room nodded at her sour words. " _Armin_ _g_ _the Grineer!_ My ancestors _must_ have collectively _lost_ their _minds_."

"I was not there, but I studied a bit of the time after I was taken prisoner. It was a desperate time. Nothing was even slowing the Sentients down. It needed and it was ordered. It worked, some." The Gunny said weakly. "I know people protested. All of us studied history. We all knew what happened when slaves got hold of weapons capable of harming their masters. Even benevolent masters, which the Orokin certainly were _not._ It _never_ ended well _._ " He slumped. "I don't know what to think, Princess… If this unknown _is_ spetznatz, she _isn't_ gonna be easy to catch and she _won't_ be easy to take down either. That was the whole _point_ of them."

"I will scout the area." Aeron spoke up for the first time. "I know what to look for."

"Be safe." Jesse said sadly and everyone looked at her. "We have lost so much, seen so many of the foundations that we took for granted come crumbling down… Please, Aeron? Be safe?" She all but begged. He bowed to her, a full, formal kowtow which she returned in the Tenno style. Then he was gone. She slumped a bit and then gave herself a shake. "I will take this to the Empress. I know what she will say. Gunny? What do we have that can deploy?"

"Princess, with all due respect..." The sergeant said quietly. "Hunting someone like that is not an easy thing. None of my people are trained for such. Set pieces battles are not the same. I might be able to talk her down, if she is a Marine and not just some Grineer who read too many history books." Everyone chuckled at his joke. The only use most Grineer had for books was destroying them.

"You were listed 'MIA. Probably KIA', Gunny." The Princess reminded him. "She won't believe you."

"True. The only people she _might_ listen to without qualm, would be you, Michelle or the Empress." The sergeant shook his head. "And _no_." That was firm even as Jesse opened her mouth. "This is _not_ a mission for a Cyberlancer. You try to leave and I will have Draco sit on you."

Everyone laughed as Draco folded his arms. Even without being able to see him clearly, his approval came through loud and clear. Everyone in the room nodded agreement. They would all help if needed. No one wanted her hurt again.

"Tyrant." Jesse slumped and then gave in. "Sergeant…" She said formally. "If she is a Marine? Can we make contact in a way she will recognize?"

"I don't know." Miguel admitted. He thought for a moment and then nodded. "If she is, then there _are_ established protocols for long term field deployment. One particularly messed up spetznaz mission I know of took _six hundred years_ to accomplish and the original team members were long dead by the time their descendants came in from the cold. That was tense enough. If this one is working with the Grineer… Then we have problems. There have been Marines who went off the deep end in our history. We are human, not Tenno. Not supermen. We can and _have_ broken."

"Yeah." Jesse shook her head. "But the sheer pressures involved would kill most others, even many Tenno. Myself included." She paused. " _Descendants?_ " She asked very carefully and Miguel nodded.

"Yeah." The sergeant sighed. "Like I say, a screwed up situation. Bunch of wack-jobs built themselves a super weapon and sent it off to 'protect everyone'." He made air quotes around the last words and everyone groaned. "The idea was great. The implementation was stupid as hell, even for Orokin. They found their way back… by..." He paused and then hissed, looking at Horatius. " _What_ did she say to blow up?"

"She didn't elaborate." Horatius said, stunned by this sudden change. "She just said it was an Orokin homing beacon. I have the original that lured the team to their deaths." He offered.

"Show me." Miguel snapped and Horatius projected something on one wall. The sergeant stared at it and then shook his head. "It is not the same. Thank god!" He looked at Jesse who opened her mouth. "You are the only person here cleared for that besides me. No one else. Not even the Grandmaster."

Everyone looked at Nikis who shrugged. "Don't want to know it all. Bad idea to try. But I do think I know what you are talking about." His voice turned cold. "And you you even think about it, I _will_ kill you."

"Grandmaster Nikis!" Jesse was hardly the only person to inhale in shock as the Gunny turned to face Nikis. "If it is, how many will it kill…?" He paused. "Oh. Never mind! It only killed _humans_ , so whoopty-"

He hit the wall with a slap and a roll to his feet as Nikis retracted his hand. The Grandmaster had moved so fast and hit him so hard that no one had ever thought to aim! Any normal human likely would have died from that hit. The Gunny was _not_ a normal human.

"Grandmaster!" Jesse snapped as Nikis drew a pistol! "Put it away!" Nikis looked at her and then at Draco who had not moved. He did not lower his pistol, which was not quite aimed yet. "Do not make me regret letting you remain here, Grandmaster Nikis." Jesse warned. "I have no quarrel with you that I know if. But if you threaten my retainer, we will have a quarrel. You can kill me easily enough if I lower my sheilds." She stepped in between Miguel and Nikis as everyone stared in shock as her code enhanced shields faded from around her. "Feel free."

"Nikis." A cool voice sounded form nowhere as a golden form appeared in the middle of the tableau. Hayden Tenno was not happy. "Put it away."

"You step on my toes at your peril, girl." Nikis all but spat those words out, not moving. "Janet's kid or no, there are limits. I won't let you mess with the database."

"She didn't. I have protocols in place for such. You know that." Hayden seemed to be fighting a sigh. "Nikis… None of these here were involved. You know _that_." Nikis did not move.

"That don't change that fact that one of their _oh so special_ spetznatz shot you in the back of the head."


	6. Chapter 6

**Dark**

For a long, long moment, no one moved. No one seemed to be _breathing._ Then Hayden Tenno heaved a deep sigh. It was suddenly as if he and Nikis were the only ones in the room. No one else dared move for fear of drawing hostile attention.

"Yes." Hayden agreed. "Yes, he did." The gaze he turned on Nikis was sad. "And then you did what you did." He shook his head when Nikis did not react. "Don't try denying it. Everyone knows why the guy was unrecoverable, Nikis. It is kind of hard to question someone's motives when their energy is torn to pieces. Nikis..." He chided the ancient Nekros. "You are not helping. Leave."

"No." Nikis replied. His tone was about as warm as ice cube.

"Nikis, don't make me get Janet and Nyx in here." Hayden all but begged. "You don't understand. You never _got_ this side of things. Black ops are not the same, even for someone like you. I did get them. I do."

"I understand fine!" Nikis all but exploded. "You got shot and _they_ did it!"

"You _killed_ the guy who did it!" Now, Hayden was just as angry, but far colder. It was suddenly as if the well heated room was the surface temperature of a glacier. "So we will never know _why_ he did it! The Tenno looked, the Marines looked, Talia's people looked. _None_ of them found a reason. No note, no records, no orders, no nothing! You killed and _obliterated_ the _only_ person who could have possibly explained why he did it. Why he shot me."

"You think I don't know that?" Nikis all but screamed that. "That I don't know I overreacted? That I messed up and can never undo what I did?" He demanded. "Yeah, I lost my temper. Yeah, I went too far, but he _shot_ you! He waited until your back was turned, leveled his weapon and blew your brains out! What was I supposed to do? _Thank him?_ Damn right I killed the son of a bitch!"

"Nikis..." Hayden all but pleaded. "Please! Let them handle this. You are emotional. You have cause! I shouldn't have let you out into the field so soon. I knew it then and I know it now. You were not ready."

"I know betrayal when I see it." Nikis retorted. He glared around the room and no one dared move. His pistol was still in hand.

A soft sound came from nowhere and Nikis jerked as a green dot appeared in the middle of the room. He backed away away from it. Or, he tried. He didn't seem able to move.

"This one is on me, Nikis." Hayden said softly as the dot grew into Oracle Janet whose visible face was tracked with tears. She had been crying and was glowing green. "Not you. Rest, old friend. We have this."

" _No!_ " Nikis screamed but then another form stepped out of nowhere to stand beside him. Nyx was shaking her head as Janet took hold of Nikis' hands and gently, so gently, pushed his pistol back to his hip. He fought, but he couldn't seem to break her grip and his pistol remained when she pulled his hand away.

"Come home, Nikis." Janet said quietly. "We need to talk." He was shaking his head, but then the green glow that suffused her coated him and he relaxed.

"That we do." Nyx agreed as she took hold of Nikis' arm. " _All_ of us." Janet held out a hand that Nyx took and then all three vanished in haze of green.

"What the hell?" The Gunny said as every single Marine stared in shock. Avalon's shields were the best in the Solar System! How the hell had they just _left?_ That wasn't possible, was it?

"If you _ever_ do something that stupid again, sergeant, I will _leave_ you to him. Goading Nikis is pure stupidity." Hayden Tenno said with a growl as he... _solidified!_ He did not become flesh, but he was more than a shade now!Jesse gasped but he shook his head. "I want to say it is all right, Jesse, but it isn't. This is not a matter that anyone else can handle. I have to do it. He doesn't want me to." He slumped a bit. "None of them did." The sergeant opened his mouth, but Hayden speared him with a finger and the man shut up. Wise. " _One_ word, sergeant! _One_ more word and _I_ will hit you." Everyone in the room winced from the ice cold fury in his voice. "And if _I_ hit you, you _won't_ get up."

"First Tenno..." Jesse said weakly. "The Balance..."

"The Balance is a _myth_ and you _know_ it, Jesse." Hayden Tenno snapped and Jesse paled. "We just didn't want the Orokin to get any ideas about moseying out of the database any time they chose." The sergeant's face blanked and Hayden nodded. "Yeah. You can have your kids and wife back. Want them?" Hayden snapped. "I don't! I am sick and tired of dealing with Orokin 'I am better than you because of my genes'! Everyone else is just sick of this half life and so am I! You are more than welcome to have them back. Any time you choose. Of course, they will need a lot of processing power so you can make fleshy slave bodies for them just like that asshole Lorinos, but hey, who cares, right?" He shook his head. "'Always loyal', my _ass!_ "

No one seemed to know what to say to that. Hard to blame them.

"No one knew why he did it." The gunnery sergeant sounded close to tears. "It didn't make any damn sense! Then or now! That wasn't the _mission!_ "

"So?" Hayden retorted. "Killing things is what soldiers and marines are _for_ , no?"

"Yeah." Miguel slumped so far it looked as if he was about to fall over. "That is what we are for. But there are supposed to be limits. Shooting allies in the back isn't right. Even in the middle of a battle!"

"As you say, you didn't do black ops, sergeant." Hayden's voice moderated a bit. Sort of. From _glacier_ to _ice cube_. "I did and I was damn good at them. You will need me. Even if it isn't her, you will need me. If it is? No one else has a chance and you damn well know it."

" _Her?_ " Jesse asked but both Hayden and the sergeant shook their heads.

"You do not want to know." Both mismatched males chorused.

"You are of high enough clearance to know, Princess, but you _do not want to_." Hayden said very quietly. "No one else here is." Draco cleared his throat and Hayden turned to scrutinize him. Then the First Tenno nodded. "I stand corrected. Hello, Draco."

"Hayden." Draco's quiet rejoinder was all he said and everyone stared from him to the First Tenno and back.

"Draco..." Jesse said softly. "You were in line to lead the Tenno after..." She broke off with a frown. "After." She looked at Hayden who shrugged.

"After I went down, was unrecoverable and Galintra and Oris had their little spat." Hayden corrected her grimly. "Yes. He was. He and I talked a lot. About a lot."

"It isn't your fault." Draco's soft words had everyone tensing, but Hayden just shook his head. "It isn't. None of it is."

"Fault doesn't come into it, Draco." Hayden replied. "It doesn't. It seemed like a good idea. I okay-ed the project. It was my responsibility to see it work. To keep things like what happened from happening. I didn't."

"You were kind of _dead!_ " Draco retorted and everyone winced as Hayden glared at the cloaked Tenno. "Tell me I lie!"

"For us, death is not necessarily the end, Draco. You know this. My past may be coming back to haunt us all." Hayden slumped a bit and then gave himself a stern shake. "I need to talk to Eliza."

Everyone stiffened and Jesse shook her head frirmly.

"No. The empress is relaxing for the first time in a long, _long_ time. I will not disturb her. Nor will _you._ " Jesse said with a growl of her own. "Whatever the problem is, I am cleared for it." Hayden looked at Draco and then at the floor. "Is that not what you said?" She demanded of the First Tenno.

"Yes. I said that." Hayden looked Jesse in the eye and then slowly shook his head. "Eliza is a good one. Talia is proud of her. And you." Jesse just crossed her arms and waited. Hayden looked at her and then smiled a bit sadly. "Damn, you are growing up, aren't you?"

"I didn't have much choice." Jesse replied evenly.

"Draco?" Hayden asked the cloaked Tenno who shook his head.

"She is right." Draco said quietly. "The Empress was and is far too stressed. I do not know all of why but helping Aerie and Ess is helping her cope. She needs time to relax, time she has not given herself. I do not want to drop this on Jesse any more than you do but I think she can handle it. Michelle is handling the ruling part and Jesse is available. I hate the idea, but she can take it."

"I hope so." Hayden turned to the others who were staring at him in shock and a bit of awe. He nodded to Tiana. "Tenno Tiana? You are needed in the field and believe me when I say ' _You do not want to know_ '! Hell, _I_ did not!" He made a face as Tiana looked at Jesse.

"Princess?" Tiana inquired carefully.

"I get the feeling this is not a Tenno matter." Jesse said very quietly. The sergeant, Draco and Hayden all nodded. "I will keep you apprised as I can."

"We stand ready to assist." Tiana clamped a hand to her chest, spun on her heel and strode out the door.

Hayden turned to the non-marine person in the room. He looked Horatius up and down and then he smiled a bit sadly. "Not how I wanted to meet you, Commander."

"Um..." Horatius was out of his depth and knew it. "I ah… I am honored, First Tenno."

"You won't think that in a few minutes." Hayden said with a soft laugh that held little humor. "Jesse, you are right. This is not a Tenno matter. It involves the Marines and Talia."

"One of them shot you." Jesse said softly. "Killed you." Hayden nodded. "You were unrevivable. Only your energy was recovered."

"Yes." Hayden sighed. "Yes, he did. I was. Was a hell of a shock. He seemed a good kid. It was a screwed up mission from the get-go. It started out as the usual super soldier experiment that were everywhere in those days and turned out to be a hell of a lot more. Small wonder the Orokin turned to the Dax after such messes. They never had a clue, did they, sergeant?" He asked Miguel.

"Will I get hit if I say 'no'?" Miguel asked warily.

"Don't tempt me." Hayden replied and everyone relaxed a little. Just a little. "You know." It was not a question.

"I guarded it." Miguel said softly. "When I made corporal, I guarded it for a tour. Her."

"Her?" Jesse asked as every Marine in the room stilled. "Who?"

"None of you are cleared. Out!" Miguel snapped and the other Marines stared at him for a moment. A moment too long. "Out! _Now!_ If you don't have something to do, I can _find_ you things to do!"

That was pure threat and say what you will about marines? Few were actually stupid. The exodus was not quite a stampede, but it was close as the crowd of Marines all but ran from the sergeant's wrath. Jesse stared at the door and then at Horatius who held up empty hands.

"I want to do the same." Horatius quipped. "I know better than to anger a sergeant, officer or no. We could use you in the Special Forces, sergeant."

"I might need a job after this." Miguel said with a sigh. "Sir..." He turned to Hayden. "I… No one knew _why_. No one _ever_ found a reason! He had no _cause_ to shoot you! Certainly not like _that!_ "

"There may not have been one, sergeant." Hayden shrugged. "Humans are human and war is the worst thing that humans found to do to one another. At least, until the Orokin got _bored_." That was sour and everyone shared his shudder. "I do apologize. I would never jeopardize your loved ones..." He broke off as the sergeant waved a hand.

"I know." If Miguel's voice was a bit husky, no one was about to comment. "We need to check. If she _is_ awake, we have big problems."

"No joke." Hayden agreed. "Jesse… Please." He implored her. "I know you are tough. I know you are brave and strong and powerful beyond belief, but please!" He pleaded. "You do not need to know this."

"I _will not_ interrupt the Empress' relaxation time unless it is absolutely imperative." Jesse said with a growl. "Does _she_ need to know?" Hayden looked at Draco who slowly shook his head.

"God willing, no one but us will." Hayden said sadly. "It is going to be enough of a mess even then." He straightened and then nodded. "I need access to one of the secure vaults." Jesse stiffened and he held up a hand. "And yes, I know what is required to open it. Your code, my voice and Draco's hand will open it."

"I can't touch that, Hayden." Draco said softly and Hayden nodded. "If I do, she will bond to me. Honor and Duty will not take that well." Jesse paused. His _swords?_

"All you have to do is open the vault. I will do the rest." Hayden said softly.

"Hayden, you are not flesh! You cannot pick it up!" Draco said with a growl. "I… I am sworn..." He shook his head. "I have to-"

"Stop!" Horatius snapped and everyone looked at him. "Whatever this is… You say it is not a Tenno matter. Can a _human_ take up whatever the burden is?"

"You do not know what you are _saying!_ " Hayden snapped.

"No?" Horatius asked, pointing at Draco. "His swords, Honor and Duty. I looked up what records we have of them. They are sentient, aren't they?" No one moved and he continued. "What is in that vault is as well, isn't it? A living, thinking weapon." Jesse stared from one ancient Tenno to the other and then moved to stand by Horatius. She did not speak, just stood there. "Can I pick it up?"

"You can." Hayden said, manifestly against his will. "And if you _do_ , Nikis will _flay_ me at least ten times. Let alone what your _mom_ will do."

"If I can do it, I must." Horatius said with a shrug. "Whatever the threat is, it must be handled."

"You do not know what you are saying." Miguel said flatly. "You have _no_ idea. You have a life. A family." He shook his head. "First Tenno, allow me to right this wrong."

"Sergeant, you are needed. The Corps, for all its faults, has done marvels. The Marines are needed now more than ever. You are needed here." The First Tenno said with a sigh. "So is the commander. Neither of you can take up the burden. I am already dead. I can and I must."

"Can I?" Jesse asked, only to freeze as both Hayden and Draco moved to block her way.

"You try and I will knock you out." Hayden said flatly. Draco nodded agreement. "You have responsibilities. Duties. You have a family. You have-"

Everything stopped as a someone coughed at the door. Everyone turned to see a young looking woman in marine fatigues standing there, her face serene. Jesse hissed as she recognized the woman. Tenno Karen of Karl's Shadow clan. Also known as _PFC_ Karen of the Marine Corps. And… more? Why was she _glowing_ a dark shade of green outside of a warframe?

"You are too late." Karen said very quietly.

"Karen? You were on _guard_ -" Miguel was suddenly ashen faced. "The vault! Oh no… _No!_ "

Jesse bit back a scream as Draco drew both of his swords. Hayden had his Glaive in hand as Miguel's rifle was in hand. Everyone but Jesse and Horatius were aiming at Karen who slowly shook her head.

"We are not enemies, Hayden Tenno, Draco son of Nyx and Chroma, Cyberlancer Princess Jesse, Gunnery Sergeant Miguel Smith and Commander Horatius." The other was sad as she took a slow step into the room, her hands at her sides. "I am not your enemy, Hayden Tenno. I never was."

"Is Karen alive?" Miguel demanded tightly.

"What do you take me for, sergeant?" The other sounded hurt. "I woke crying and she tried to help. She did not know what she was doing, but she did help me and I did not harm her. I will not. Nor will you." That was reproving. "She has done nothing wrong. She is awake and aware. She is a bit upset that you are. She accepted this. You need me. I am here."

"And you cannot leave her now." Hayden said with a snap.

"I warned her that such a binding was for life." The being inside Karen said mildly. "She accepted that. I will not let you harm her." That was a warning as a disc of metal appeared in Karen's hand. It morphed into a Glaive, but not a prime version. Almost _Hayden's!_ Almost. Its three blades were made up of green energy. "She took up the blade of her own free will."

"I do not believe you." Hayden snapped. His own Glaive was poised and ready to fly.

"Begging your pardon, First Tenno, I was not speaking to you." The other said as she nodded to Jesse and Horatius. "What is needed is needed. He does not wish to do it any more than his descendants do." Jesse inhaled and the other looked at the princess. "You understand."

"I understand that here is far more going on here than I thought." Jesse said slowly. Karen nodded, a small, slow smile crossing her face.

"Yes, indeed." The other replied as she took a step towards Jesse, only to pause as Draco blocked her way, his swords coming up to ready positions. "If we battle here, Tenno Draco, who wins?" She inquired.

"You will not take her!" Draco snapped.

"No. I will not." Whatever was in Karen agreed. "She has duties. She has responsibilities. And this? This is _not_ a Tenno matter. Is it, Father?" That was to Hayden who recoiled. Everyone stared at her and she smiled wider, a sad but friendly smile. "This is a _human_ matter and as such, I will see it resolved. Vsegda veren."

She grabbed hold of Horatius and they both vanished in a puff of green.


	7. Chapter 7

**New**

Elsewhere

Helen woke in darkness, but she was not afraid. Her implants told her that her commander was sitting beside her. She began her basic diagnostic and was rewarded by a pat on her arm.

"Good morning, Helen." Anna's calm voice had Helen looking that way and everything did as it should. Every prosthetic was operating at peak efficiency. "Did you rest well?"

"I rested optimally, commander Anna." Helen said with a nod as her ocular implants came fully online and she saw others standing behind the commander. A male, a female and a hovering metal thing. All Grineer. That did not scare her now. Her new cranial processor showed them as allies. "Orders?"

"I am your commander, but my rank is Major." The older woman said with a smile as she sat back and waited for Helen to sit up, which the younger woman did. "The only people you can trust are in this room." She warned as Helen swung her feet off the hard metal bunk. "No one else. We are a team. We will work as a team, fight as a team or we will _fall_ as a team. Clear?"

"Yes, Major." Helen braced to the same attention that the others did as the Major rose to her own feet, nodding approval.

"When we are done with our mission, I will undo what I did, give you the choice to remain with us or not. But the mission comes first." Anna said firmly as she inspected the back of Helen's head and then nodded. "You are a tech. Grineer have no counterparts for such, so we have to improvise. Luckily, we are good at that." She nodded to the female Grineer. "This is Nina Tal, our team sniper." Helen nodded to the Grineer who nodded back, silent. The Major continued, nodding to the male. "This is Lancer Ju-78653094. He is our team heavy weapon's specialist. I am commander, interpreter, sometimes a infiltrator or scout. Questions?"

"What is my role to be?" Helen inquired when the Major was done speaking. Clearly she was not going to introduce the robot, if it even had a name.

"You are a tech specialist and medical specialist. Grineer may not care if they are wounded, but we do. You will carry our medical gear and I will train you how to use it. As a Corpus soldier, you are likely better with long range optics than myself or the Lancer will be." The Major replied. "Your cover will be as a Ballista. A Grineer sniper. You will not be shooting. Nina Tal is better at it than any of the rest of us. Maybe all of us combined." The compliment bounced off Nina Tal's armor like a light caliber round, with no apparent notice from the Grineer. "You will run our sensors. The idea is that you will find the targets and then we will destroy them. Preferably from long range, but if needed, we all have close combat weapons and experience. You will learn what you need to. We will all have to fight to accomplish our mission. In fighting, people get hurt or killed. It may happen to me, it may happen to you. If so, the mission must come first. Get used to that idea."

"Yes, Major." Helen felt odd. Before she could react in any way, the Major reached up to her neck and something went hiss. Whatever happened, Helen felt better. She barely felt the fear that had risen retreat. That made no sense. Why should she be afraid here? Surrounded by her team? "Orders?"

"For now? Lets get you outfitted." The major stepped back and nodded to the others who stepped forward.

The male Grineer held out an oblong weapon to her that she took in careful hands. It was unloaded, a fact for which she was grateful. Her armor systems identified it as a Buzlok light machine gun. An incredibly detailed expert system started to instruct her in its use, but she paused that as the female Grineer held out an odd thing to her. She slung the rifle and held out a hand for the odd looking thing. On receiving it, Helen's onboard computer identified it as a Halikar jet propelled mace. Again, her onboard processor started to instruct her and again, she paused it. She looked at the Major who nodded approval.

"We won't throw you into melee combat unless we have no other options. That will give you reach. Well done. Not everyone can figure out how to do that so fast. You will be a hell of an asset once you have time to study up." The Major smiled and Helen's world was perfect. Part of her knew that the Major was using some kind of mind control ability on her. The rest of her didn't care. "I will take you and get you fitted with a medical kit and all the rest in a bit. That is all locked to my personal biometrics. You will not be able to use any of it unless I order it."

"What if you are injured, Major?" Helen asked, worry surfacing. "Unconscious?"

"In that case, we will have far larger problems." Anna replied, not offended in the slightest. "There will be workaround, but they usually make a mess. Don't borrow trouble, Helen. You can talk to us, but only in private. Outside of secure quarters, we need to maintain the appearance of common Grineer as best we can. Basically, it boils down to 'keep your mouth shut'. Most Grineer don't talk much at all unless they need to communicate with others. They don't usually have much to converse about."

"What is the mission, Major?" Helen said as she straightened, then stared at the mace in her hand. "I do not know where to holster this." The Major tapped a metal square on Helen's belt and Helen placed the mace there. She did not react as the mace was suddenly attracted to a magnet there. She pulled at it and it came easily to her hand. She nodded to the major. "Acknowledged."

"The mission is fairly straightforward, but also more than a bit complicated." Major Anna said with a frown. "We have to destroy an Orokin homing beacon." Helen nodded but then paused. She thought about questioning and refrained. Major Anna smiled approval again. "Good girl. Keep your mouth shut. You will live longer. I know. Such tech defines robust and this one? The problem is that the homing beacon is at the bottom of an ocean." Helen waited and the Major smiled wider. Then the older woman turned to the others. "Get the ship ready to fly. Check our charges for deep water detonations. The site that has been detected is too far from any planetary facilities to allow for timely use of their assets. We are going in."

"Yes, Major!" Both Grineer saluted and left the room. The small robot thing did not leave the major's side.

"I like you." Major Anna said as she laid a gentle hand up against the metal that covered Helen's cheek. "That is not a good thing. I need to be focused. I need you to be focused. Can you do that? Without the drugs?" Something changed and Helen gasped as her body suddenly felt all wrong. Nothing hurt. It just all felt _wrong_. The Major's hand grabbed her arm and held her upright as she swayed.

"I do not know." Helen said weakly. "Am I a hindrance? A threat to the mission?" She begged.

"We need you." The Major did something and the wrongness faded, leaving Helen to bask in warmth. "I will keep an eye on you and I will set the medical kit to keep an eye on your vitals. If you start feeling bad, let me know. Such rapid changes hurt. You can function like this, but you will need rest after this jaunt and I will make sure you get it."

"Why do you need me?" Helen asked. "Or is that something I do not need to know?"

"Because fighting won't work and blowing up the homing beacons is a short term solution." The Major let go of Helen who felt a sense of loss, but quashed that feeling. "I am looking for a long term solution. I have been for a long, long time. Your knowledge of Corpus tech may very well tip the balance. It is not Orokin tech, but it is far closer than Grineer."

"Who do you work for?" Helen dared to ask. Anna looked at her sidelong and Helen slumped a bit. "Or… I don't need to know, do I?"

"I work for the Queens, Helen." Anna said with a small frown. "I have for a long time. I was given this mission by them far more years ago than you can imagine. Right now? That is all you need to know. If you choose to continue with me after the mission, if we both survive that is,..." She qualified. "...I will tell you more. I _do_ think you have what it takes to do my kind of work, but I have been fooled before. I cannot afford to be fooled now. Come."

She started for the door and Helen followed, easy on her metal feet. It should not have felt right, but it did. The next room was clearly a medical bay of some kind. If out of a Corpus' worst nightmares. What was left of a Corpus crewman lay on a table against one wall. He had been vivisected by skilled hands. Helen hoped he had been dead when it happened, but knowing Grineer? He hadn't been.

Anna ignored the two smock clad forms who stared at her and Helen before going back to their scanners. She strode into another room and paused just inside the door. Helen came to a halt behind her as the robot flew up to hover by the Major's shoulder.

"Oh, not _again!_ " Anna groaned. Helen stared past her commander at a pair of Grineer who lay on the floor. Both were breathing, but neither looked well. Both had golden bumps on their foreheads. Anna spun to the smock clad Grineer who froze as she snarled at them. "What part of 'leave this room alone' do you morons not understand?" She demanded. "Touch my gear at your peril, you fools. You let the sentry loose on this ship and _none_ of you will survive!"

"We didn't!" One of the smock clad Grineer said but something in her voice rang false to Helen who looked at Anna. Anna nodded.

"Go ahead. You know what to do." Anna said quietly. Somehow, Helen did. She spun, drew and threw the mace in one sinuous motion. It hit one of the smock clad Grineer in the head as she was reaching for a weapon. She went down in a heap. The other screeched as the mace ricocheted off a wall and then slammed her hand that had been reaching for a panel half concealed behind herself hard enough that bone audibly cracked. Anna smiled, but it held little humor. "You are a natural with that. Nice. I _think_."

There was an undercurrent to the Commander's words that Helen did not understand. She did understand that the two female Grineer in front of her were enemies. Her Halikar returned to her hand and she slung it to draw her rifle. She loaded a magazine by pure instinct or some kind of computer assistance built into her processor. Six of one…

"Orders?" Helen asked.

"I need to check my gear and reset the sentry. I hope it hasn't taken too many of the crew this time or the General will be rather upset." Anna paused and then nodded. "And you… You can take a test I wasn't planning to give you for a while." She pulled something from the room. Something that gleamed golden. It shimmered in Helen's sight and then was some kind of backpack. "Left arm."

Helen held out her left arm and the major slid a strap of the thing onto it. It moved on its own and then it was clinging to her back! It didn't seem to weigh anything!

"We need to know if the General ordered this or someone else." Anna said flatly. Helen felt a great weight settle on her as information flooded her mind. She focused and fought it back, nodding to her commander. Something touched her mind, but not a command. Not a control. A suggestion. Someone wanted to help. Help that she accepted. "Do what you have to."

"Yes, Major." Helen never heard her voice shift timbres. An accent that she had never heard came from her lips as she turned to the two broken Grineer. "All right, dearie." Helen said as she stepped towards the conscious Grineer who stared at her as if seeing her for the first time. "Ordinarily, this could go two ways. Easy or hard. I am not going to bother with easy. I know you like hurting people. Any people. I actually don't. I am just good at it. You think the strong take from the weak. Well.. Let's see who is stronger, shall we?"

Grineer _were_ strong. It took a good two minutes for the Reclaimer to start to scream.

* * *

Ten minutes after twenty fairly messy minutes later

"Harkonar again. Damn them." Anna said with a wince as she adjusted Helen's meds again. "How is she doing, doc?"

The Ogma class transport was cramped with four crammed into it, but both of the others were up front. The Lancer was piloting and Nina Tal at the weapons console. Neither of them would pay any attention to what was going on in back.

"This is not something that should be done in the field, Major. You know that." The voice that came form Helen prosthetic voice box wasn't her own. It was male for one thing. Old, for another. "She needs to be in a sick bay. At the very least, she should be in a _bed_ for a couple of days while she adjusts to the nanites."

"As if we can take a couple of days with the weapon on its way back." Anna sighed as she finalized the settings. "Anything on the scans? _Any_ idea why they wanted this girl so badly?"

"No." The other replied, concern rising. "She is in good health. Almost perfect health actually, minus what you had to do to her. Her legs and the other parts can be regrown. Do you want me to?"

"Hold off on that for now." The Major commanded. "We need her to at least resemble a Grineer enough to pass common scrutiny. How is she doing otherwise?"

"Better than I did, actually." The other chuckled. "No crying. No gibbering. No mental wandering at all. She is actually reading the field manuals for her gear. She started while I did the rough stuff. It didn't bother her but so much." He mused. "I am not sure why. I will do a preliminary psyche profile. I think this one will make a good spetznatz."

"Don't break her." Anna warned. "She is either a very useful asset or leverage. None of which she will be if you destroy her mind."

"You know me, Major. I have never broken a recruit." The other replied, just a little out of sorts. "She is coming out of the training trance."

"Good." Anna smiled as Helen's face turned to her, the implants changing color form gold to Grineer orange and green as the other current occupant of Helen's mind withdrew a bit. "Studying, were you?"

"Yes, Major." Helen said softly. "Major, I need to explain. The doctor was wondering why I was not put out by what he did to interrogate the Grineer Reclaimers."

"A fairly strong reaction is common in those who see such things for the first time." Anna paused as realization struck. "This wasn't the first time, for you, was it?"

"No." Helen replied, her face turning towards the floor. "My work section was subordinate to a colleague of Alad V." Anna's face went blank and Helen nodded. "We were deemed disloyal and we were all remanded into Security's custody. I lost count of how long I was there. I was told later it was two weeks. That was when my father decided to pull me out, let me work for Perrin. We were not disloyal and I think that is the only reason I survived security's idea of 'gentle questioning.' I know of five others in my section who disappeared at the same time I did. None of them have been seen since."

"I didn't think the Corpus went for torture." Anna said slowly. She eyed a set of lights on the backpack that there was no way that Helen could see. All blinked green. Truth.

"Not the way the Grineer do, no." Helen said quietly. "It is not as messy, but you take a long time to recover from Security's questioning. If you _ever_ do."

"Torture will do that. What did they do to you?" Anna asked. "And no quibbling."

"You know to manipulate minds." Helen said quietly. "Do you know how to stimulate a human's pleasure center?" Anna stared at the woman in Grineer armor, her face blank. "That is what they did."

"How long?" Anna inquired carefully.

"I don't know how long they did it to me." Helen replied and again, the lights blinked for truth. She likely didn't know. "There is much I do not remember from that horrible place. I woke up in a Perrin recovery ward. I had been contemplating children when they took me. When I came to in that hospital, I was less than coherent for some time. When I recovered, I was told that when they pulled me out of the machine and blew up the cell block to cover the rescue, my reproductive organs had been destroyed. So whatever they did was not just to my _mind_."

"That sounds like something an Orokin would do." Anna said with a growl. A pulsing light from the backpack had Anna pause. A quick flip of a switch and she could see writing scroll across her ocular implant.

[If is is a fake, it is a _damn_ good fake] The doctor shouldn't have been able to project rage in writing, but he managed somehow. [The organs there now are cloned copies. Without her words, I would have missed that entirely. They are good copies, but not her originals.]

"You swore vengeance, didn't you?" Anna said quietly. Helen nodded. "Idiot girl. That will kill you as surely as eating a bullet will."

"I do not care." Helen's rage sang loud and clear even through the drugs she had coursing through her system. She gasped as Anna touched her neck and upped the dose. The camouflaged human slumped and then nodded to Anna. "I… I apologize."

"For _what?_ " Anna demanded. "Being _violated?_ "

"For not being entirely truthful." Helen was calm, but it was imposed. Anna could see her straining at the drugs controls. "I have no future. Your offer, whatever it is, has no meaning for me."

"You are so wrong, girl." Anna said with a sigh as she tapped the backpack, sending Helen to slumber. "You think you are the _only_ recruit we get who has horrors in their past? I have heard lots of stories just bad. Do the full workup, doc. I will let her sleep until we reach the mission site. Then it will likely get loud."

"Some action may help her focus." The mind of the doctor was subdued now. "It seems that humans have not lost their penchant for cruelty."

"That, unfortunately, will likely never change as long as humanity exists." Anna said and then jerked, grabbing a stay to hold herself in place as the ship lurched. She hit the intercom with more force than she intended, but it didn't break. Good. She broke far too many of those. "Report!"

"Incoming large Grineer submersible has fired on us. Torpedoes intercepted and destroyed before impact." Nina Tal reported, calm as always. "Returning fire." The ship shuddered and several loud 'boom's reverberated through the hull.

"Let me guess..." Anna asked sourly. "Our not so friendly industrial allies?"

"Yes, Major." Nina Tal reported.

"Its the Harkonar."


	8. Chapter 8

**Times**

(One very short underwater battle later)

Major Anna shook her head as she stared at the readout on her implant HUD. Nina Tal had been her usual efficient self. Two torpedoes had blown the ever living crap out of the entire rear section of the Harkonar submersible. Its propulsion systems were nothing but twisted wreckage mixed with many torn and now squished Grineer corpses.

"They follow no matter where we go." The Lancer said quietly from his seat and Anna nodded. She did not look at the drone that hovered behind her. She has reasonably sure that wasn't from Harkonar since it had fried two assassins who had come after her. Not entirely, but reasonably so. "How do they keep tracking us?"

"Good question." Anna said quietly. "We might be able to get an answer from this. Anything left of the passenger compartments?"

"Not much." The Lancer replied, touching controls to send the Ogma in an arc that swept around the wrecked Harkonar submarine. It was quickly apparent that no one was ever going to use the submarine again. Not with a huge rent in its side. Salvage it for parts and/or materials? Sure. _Use_ it ever again? Not a chance.

"This may be a job for our new recruit." Anna said slowly. "None of _us_ can get in there. We have two diving suits, but neither of them will fit through that rent and the rest of the ship is little better. Drones now..." She turned her head to look a the Carrabus drone that was still at her shoulder. It ignored her as always. "We have several that are rated for this depth."

"Is she checked out on them?" The Lancer asked. "They are not the same as Corpus proxies."

"No, they are not." Anna sighed deeply. "I will wake her up and ask. If not? We will improvise. Get ready to drop a drone pod but keep the weapons hot. This won't be the only Harkonar sub in the area. If she can get access to their systems, then maybe we can get some answers while we blow the beacon to hell."

She half crawled, half slid into the back compartment and was only half surprised to find Helen awake when she made it back into what passed for a troop section of this modified gunship. The doctor had been listening of course and he had always been good at anticipating needs. That was one reason he had been preserved as he had been.

"Orders, Major?" Helen asked quietly. She did not move as the Major checked her vitals with both implant scans and hands. Either could be fooled. Both? That was much harder.

"Are you capable?" The Major asked.

"The drugs are helping." Helen admitted. "The doctor is doing his best. My rage is strong."

"You have a right to that." Anna reassured her. "That said, Harkonar keeps popping up and we need to know how they are tracking us. Betrayal is a given in our line of work, but the General I am working with is not like that. He would kill us all in a heartbeat if he was not ordered to aid us. He _was_ ordered to aid us directly by the Queens. He will not betray _them_. He knows better."

"As you say, Major." Helen said as she sat up. "I was studying the various drone schematics. I believe my implants can link to one?" She inquired and Anna nodded, approving again.

"Yes." Anna agreed. "That is not standard Grineer equipment. That is one of many reasons I want to keep you out of Harkonar hands. They would have to try and take it apart and that would not end well for anyone in the vicinity. If you link to a specialized aquatic Regulator, you can control other drones. They will not be as intelligent or independent as Corpus proxies would be, but that is actually a _good_ thing in a world where enemies can hack just about anything."

"This tech is not like anything I have ever seen or heard of from Corpus or Grineer." Helen said very softly. "I am not cleared to know where it and you came from, am I?"

"No." Anna felt regret rise, but tamped it back down. "Better for now that you do not know. This can all be explained by specialized and experimental Grineer tech. Most of it anyway." Helen stared at the Major and then turned to look at her backpack. She looked back at the Major questioning and the Major shook her head. "Do not ask."

"As directed." Helen nodded. "You wish me to act as a drone controller?"

"We are going to drop a drone pod to scout the wreckage of a Harkonar submarine while we go to blow up the homing beacon." Anna said as she sat down beside Helen. "You can control those. As a Combat Tech Crewman, you were trained to do so, but with Corpus proxies instead."

"I can do that." Helen sat back, laid her left arm in her lap and started touching a panel that appeared on her left forearm with her right hand.

[I will monitor.] The doctor promised from his place on her back. [One question, Major: Orders in case of survivors?]

"There are not any survivors." The Major said flatly and Helen nodded as she shut down her visual sensors to focus on her implant readouts.

"Acknowledged." Helen sank into her trance and suddenly, she was not alone. She stood in a room filled with computer monitors and a dark haired human stood beside her, but he wasn't really there. He smiled at her and she nodded. She was being shown a mental framework that allowed for all kinds of things. "Hello, Doctor."

"You are taking this very well." The man said with a nod of approval as he moved to stand beside her. "Most humans would be gibbering by now even with the drugs."

"What would be the point?" Helen inquired as she focused on a readout that flashed. It showed a wrecked Grineer submarine, several aquatic drones of various kinds and an Ogma moving away. "You are not going to let me go mad. Such would be a waste of time and resources. I am trapped here and now. I cannot escape or fight. I _will_ fight when I can." She warned.

"Of course you will, my dear." The human smiled wider. It was a friendly, almost comradely smile, but Helen was not fooled. This was the same being who had used _her_ hands to _dissect_ two Grineer while they screamed. "The best ones always do. _I_ certainly did and so did Anna. We both struggled. We both fought and in the end, we _both_ accepted that we could use our talents for the betterment of all instead of our own selfish desires." Helen stared at him and he nodded. "I am not going lie to you and say what is happening to you won't hurt. It will. Change is often painful. Such rapid changes are far more so. Anna has no choice but to try and stop this though. We have our orders."

"You won't tell me who you serve." Helen's words were not a question.

"We can't." The doctor replied, his face falling. "You have been hurt a great deal. You are angry with cause. But that knowledge would cause far more problems. Anna is working for the Grineer at the moment. That is all you need to know right now. Nina Tal and the Lancer will eventually have to choose who they follow; Anna or the queens. But for now? They are the team we have. We use what we have, not what we desire. You will be given the same choice when the mission is done. If any of us survive, that is."

"Can you… die?" Helen asked as many drones slid through the torn submarine, illuminating scenes of carnage with powerful lights and sensors.

" _Anything_ can die, girl." The doctor said heavily. "Even Tenno die." Helen looked at him and he shook his head. "Do not ask."

"I will not." Helen promised and then paused as her readouts changed. Drone hydrophones had heard movements that were not ocean related. Mechanical. The doctor tensed beside her. Helen nodded and sent her drones to investigate, but lowered their light output to try and gain a tactical advantage. What she saw was not actually a surprise. "There is a survivor. She is attempting to send a distress call. Deploying countermeasure."

Both of them watched the screen as the Grineer in the diving suit worked frantically at the controls. She never even saw the small Sikula drone approach.

"Wait." The doctor said. "Blow up the console, not her." Helen looked at him and his face was blank. "Take away her hope."

"Even Grineer may break. She may give us intelligence." Helen said quietly. The doctor nodded and watched as Helen sent the Sikula forward. The Grineer on the screens jerked back as a mine flew from the tiny robot to attach to the console. She spun in place, staring at the drones which all brought up their lights at Helen's command. Helen had six of them aiming weapons at her. If the Grineer had a weapon, it was not available to her in the hard shelled diving suit.

"Traitors!" The voice of the Grineer screamed. "You betray Grineer!"

"Oh?" Helen asked, her voice cold. Her voice was transmitted to the other through the drones that were watching the now frozen Grineer. The doctor looked at her, but did not speak. "And since _you_ are not obeying the Queen's express commands, what are _you_ doing?" She ordered the drone to detonate its mine and the console vaporized in a flash of muddy water. "What you Harkonar are doing is treason."

"We are Grineer!" The female in the wrecked sub snapped. "You are nothing!"

"If you tell me how you are tracking us, I may kill you quickly." Helen replied. "If not, I will direct my drones' fire to break your legs and arms. I will leave you to suffocate there. I do wonder how long your air supply will last. A day? More?" She paused as the doctor leaned close to whisper in her ear.

"That suit does not seem to have any added sensors." The doctor said quietly. "Most Grineer share certain human phobias. It was a weakness built into them deliberately by their Orokin makers. Break her lights." Helen did not react openly, but two of the modified drones fired small spears that tore into the diving suit's lights, turning them to twisted junk. The female Grineer gave a cry but then laughed.

"Is that the best you can do, traitor?" She demanded.

"No." Helen said as she started to shut down all of the lights in all of her drones. She also commanded the Sikula closest to the Grineer to lay a smoke screen. The darkness was suddenly absolute. Not even outer space was so dark as the water was suddenly. "Let's see how you like the dark, Harkonar scum."

"What?" A cry of fear was suddenly cut off as a thundering crash sounded. The Sikula's sonar showed the diving suit blundering into a wall. Then another. "No…." Was she c _rying?_ "No! No no nonononononononono!" She was wailing now, careening blindly from wall to floor to wall.

"Tell me what I want to know." Helen tried to match the cold menace that Anna could portray. She knew she didn't manage, but the doctor nodded approval. "And I _might_ turn the lights back on."

" _I DON'T KNOW!_ " The Grineer screamed. " _Only the Captain knew and he was on the bridge! It took a hit! Everyone died! Please! Please!_ " She begged as she collapsed to the floor, sobbing.

"Captain might have left a log." The doctor said softly. Two of the drones left the scene to scan the rest of the ship. "No survivors, Helen."

"No survivors." Helen agreed as she ordered all of the remaining drones to fire. The spears that flew were carefully aimed. They targeted the weak spots of the diving suit, tearing sections of it away that might have been damaged in explosions or collisions with hard metal when the sub crashed to the sea floor. No gaping holes, no glaring evidence that anything other than the wreck had killed the Grineer whose wailing sobs cut off with a rasping gurgle as she drowned.

"How do you feel, Helen?" The doctor asked, watching Helen carefully as she led her drones to search the rest of the ship.

"Numb." Helen admitted. "It was her or us. She would have killed us all if given the chance or compromised our mission. I have killed Grineer before, but in battle. Not like that."

"No." The doctor slumped a bit. "Such is our work, Helen. Nasty. Dirty. Ugly. Horrible."

"Needed." Helen said as her drones entered what had apparently been the bridge of the ship and found several systems still operating.

"Is it right, what you just did?" The doctor asked. Helen spun to stare at him and his face was intent. "I am being serious, Helen. This is very important. This may be the _single_ most important question I have to ask you. Do you feel it was right to kill that Grineer that way?"

"I..." Helen stared at him and then she staggered. She gasped and then she fell to her knees, covering her face with her hands. "No. No, it wasn't right."

The doctor sighed and then knelt beside her, his hands enveloping her as she started to cry. He held her as she sobbed.

"Good." The doctor gently rocked her as she cried. "If you felt such things were right you would have no place in our ranks. As it is? You are hurt, torn, lost and alone. Trapped and scared. If you so wish after this mission is done, we can and will help you find your way. Maybe with someone else. Maybe with us. Our way is not an easy one. It is messy. Dirty. Horrible as I said. But as _you_ said, it is needed. We do the horrible so that others do not have to."

"Am I a failure?" Helen begged the doctor as she fought for control.

"Hardly, my dear." The doctor reassured her. "Helen, 90% of the human race would not be able to do what you just did or worse, would revel in it. We cannot allow such feelings to take control. We have to be in control of ourselves at all times. We have to be cold. We have to be pragmatic. We have to be the sharp end of the spear, because that is what we are. We are special reconnaissance and we go places to do things that no one else can. Not even the Tenno."

"I do not understand." Helen said weakly, dashing her face with a hand. "I... I need to..."

"I have said too much. Take a moment to compose yourself." The doctor gave her one final squeeze and released her. "For what it is worth? You are handling it better than I did. I barfed for ten minutes after my first cold kill." He made a face.

"You knew there was a survivor, didn't you?" Helen asked as she took a several deep breaths.

"I suspected. Grineer are very tough and share humanity's survival instincts. We do need intelligence and we needed to see if you could do this." The doctor shrugged as he rose to his feet. "Killing in battle is easy. Chaos is rampant. When it is them or you, instinct takes over and you will always choose you to survive. Killing like what you just did is far harder. It _will_ get easier to deal with if you do it more." He warned. "If it ever seems the right thing or first choice, you have serious problems. Many of my comrades could not shut it off. There is no place for people like us in peacetime. We are too dangerous to just leave sitting around. Lost tempers killed people. We learned, Helen. You will too if you stay with us."

"If I do not, will I remember any of this?" The woman asked as her drones accessed the Grineer systems. "Ah! Communication logs." She accessed the files and started downloading them, using codes that her augmentation provided.

"I don't know." The doctor admitted. "If needed, I can perform a mind-wipe. That is one of the functions that is built into my pack. It might be safer for you not to remember if you do choose not to stay with us. About half of our recruits choose that. There is no shame."

"I don't know." Helen said sadly as she focused on her work. "I cannot read some of these. The encryptions are beyond whatever keys I have."

"Copy them. We can find a way to crack them. We have all kind of sneaky tricks." The doctor smiled as Helen did. "Better?"

"It hurts." Helen admitted. "It is as if a bit of myself is gone." The doctor nodded.

"You just lost what little innocence you had." The doctor said very quietly. "Even soldiers in war have a certain degree of innocence, Helen. We do not. We cannot. Part of me hates myself for doing this to you, for making you do this. But the only way to know if you can kill in cold blood..." He trailed off and Helen nodded.

"...is to see if I can do it." Helen completed the phrase. "The mission comes first. Mission accomplished." She recalled her drones and they fled from the ruined submarine even as a thunderous detonation sounded in the distance over their hydrophones.

"And _that_ is the end of another homing beacon." The doctor sighed as Helen sat and closed her eyes. 'You don't need to wake up just yet, my dear. We can talk."

"This is your job, isn't it?" Helen asked as he sat beside her, the room fading as the drones returned to their pod and assumed hibernation status. "Trying to keep us whole and sane?'"

"Whole, yes. I don't know about _sane_." The doctor smiled as Helen did, a bit tremulously, but a smile. "For what it is worth, Helen? I think you would make a good spetsnatz."

"That is a word for 'Special recon'?" Helen asked and the doctor nodded.

"It is an ancient word with a lot of baggage attached, both good and bad." The doctor sighed deeply as Helen relaxed. "'Voyska spetsialnogo naznacheniya' is the actual ancient wording, but most just say 'spetsnatz'. And there are as many way to _spell_ that as I have seen people _write_ it." He grinned as Helen chuckled.

"What do I do?" Helen asked, relaxing fully. "I will fight. I know I will. But for now? I think I am tired."

"You are." The doctor laid a hand on Helen's head and then caught her falling form to lay her out flat. "Tired and hurting although we will not let you suffer needlessly. Rest, my dear." He reached into nowhere and pulled out an odd looking helmet that he laid over Helen's head. It morphed to cover her head. Then it started to glow. "You have a lot to learn and not a lot of time. It will hurt, but I can ease your learning and I will."

"Doctor." Anna's voice preceded the woman into the virtual environment. She nodded when she saw Helen laid out. "She did well?"

"She did well." The doctor glared at the woman. "This is far too fast, Major."

"We have no time." Anna snapped and he stared at her. "The beacon was pulsing _green_. The blade just woke up. Someone picked it up." The doctor blanched. "You know what that means. _She_ is close."

"Oh shit!"

"Yeah."


	9. Chapter 9

**Enemy of convenience**

Someplace very old

"What the hell is going on?" Horatius snapped when the world stopped turning oddly around him. He had been in enough Orokin style portals to know that this travel had been similar, but somewhat different.

They stood in a structure the likes of which Horatius could not define. The room they were in was large and well lit. It looked sort of Orokin, but more silver in places than gold. There were also no Lotus symbols anywhere that Horatius could see. There were odd symbols in some places that he could not define. Odd writing in other places that glowed silver and blue. The writing scratched at his mind before he focused on Karen.

"Well?" He demanded of the woman in Orokin Marine fatigues.

"A moment, commander." Karen's voice was shaken, but she stood tall as she looked down at her hand and the three bladed weapon that hung there. "Hadi, are you all right?" She shook her head, clearly listening to something Horatius could not hear. "No, no… _I_ am fine. _I_ know how to buffer myself going through such things although a bit more warning might have been nice. At least you buffered _him_. No..." She grimaced. "They won't be happy, but hopefully, we can find Tali before anyone else does." She looked at Horatius and shrugged. "Yes, I know what it looks like."

"You are talking to the _Glaive_." Horatius said very slowly and Karen rolled her eyes at him.

" _You_ were just talking to him, Commander." Karen's voice was more than a bit snide now and Horatius fought to keep from reacting. "Whatever they planned, it wasn't good. Hayden cannot pick up this weapon. He is a shade. As powerful, smart and flexible as he is, he is energy. He _cannot_ handle the stresses this weapon would place on him. It would destroy him and I won't allow that." She smiled warmly at the Glaive. "Yes, I know, Hadi. You are welcome."

"Hadi." Horatius was trying hard not to move as as the clearly insane woman looked at him. "You call the Glaive 'Hadi'."

"Well, duh." The Marine replied, scorn coming from every pore. "That is his name. Would you want to be called 'Commander' or 'Operative' all the time?"

"Do you have any idea how insane this is?" Horatius demanded, working hard not to get angry. He was not expecting her to sigh.

"I do." Karen said sadly. She looked at the Glaive and her face turned resigned. "No, no. I chose this. Not you. They may not believe, but I _did_ choose this, Hadi. We will save her if we can. Stop them from confining her if we cannot. You have my word."

"Who?" Horatius demanded and Karen looked at him, her eyes suddenly far older than her seeming.

"His sister. What do you know of the history of the Tenno, commander?" Karen asked softly as she moved to one wall and Horatius gawked as a chair morphed right out of the wall underneath her as she sat. That wasn't Orokin tech! It wasn't golden or bright enough. That was something else. It hadn't been there when she started to sit! "You know more than most, due to who your father is. The Clergy know far more, but they _also_ know not to say."

"Wait." Horatius paused and then nodded. "I remember you. You were the Marine who talked to us at the Tower. When Susan died." Even now, he felt a pang of grief for the brave girl who had been born into horror and transcended that to become far more.

"I was the only one allowed to talk to you." Karen made a face. "Except Nikis because no one _dares_ try to get him follow the rules. Your dad is damn scary."

"No joke." Horatius started to sit on the floor and froze as at the floor underneath him morphed into a chair. "Uh..."

"Hadi, don't do that." Karen warned. "Yes, the chair would be far more comfortable but he is not going to to trust either of us. I met him only the once and you cannot be heard except when you borrow my voice. He will not trust us. He has no reason to. We just _kidnapped him_ for the Empress' sake." Karen chided someone who Horatius could not see. Her chiding was oddly gentle. "Look, Hadi, I don't blame you for being upset. For trying to help. Just, do not stress him further. We need him." She turned to Horatius and shook her head. "Hadi is a good kid. But that is all he is. A kid. Do not judge him as an adult, Commander. He is not one. He has never had to grow up and I know better than to try and make him. You will not either." That was pure warning.

"What is going on?" Horatius rose back to his feet, hands at his sides. He was unarmed while this clearly insane Marine was armed. The only good thing was that she didn't seem hostile. Sad, worried, and maybe a bit miffed, but not hostile. He did not move as the chair flowed back into the floor. "Where are we?"

"We are currently outside of time and space." Karen replied. "Hadi tells me this place hasn't been used in ages." Her eyes widened slightly and she gulped. "Really? Uh… He says it predates the _Citadel_ by a couple of decades."

"Okay. Old place. You are still crazy." Horatius said softly, still not daring to look away from Karen who gave a long suffering sigh and laid her hand with the Glaive on a table that slid out of the wall to support it.

"No, she is not, Commander." A small hologram appeared over the Glaive. The little boy was maybe ten years old, but his eyes were far older. Horatius fought not to react. The boy looked like a young version of Hayden Tenno! The lines of both pain and laughter showed on his face. "As she said, my name is Hadi." He bowed to Horatius. "For the transgression of abducting you without warning, I apologize."

"You cannot do this for long, Hadi! You will run out of power and have to shut down!" Karen said with a growl. "You cannot use my power or it will hurt you, so keep it quick."

For all of his faults, and he knew they were legion, Commander Horatius was not stupid. Neither of these odd beings were hostile. They were clearly worried and maybe the Marine wasn't crazy. Or maybe Horatius was finally _going_ crazy.

"Okay." Horatius sighed and relaxed just a little. "I think I _do_ need a chair." The chair came up from the floor again and he sat slowly. It was far more comfortable than even the heavily overstuffed chairs that his wife Mercedes liked so much. "Thank you."

"You are quite welcome, Commander." The hologram bowed again. "I cannot hold this hologram for much longer." Indeed, it wavered as Horatius watched and Karen looked alarmed.

"Hadi! Go!" Karen commanded. "Rest! Recuperate your energy. We will need you! If he needs to ask you something, he can do it through me."

"And here I thought I only had one mother." Hadi stuck his tongue out at Karen, smirked at Horatius' stunned expression and then vanished. _That_ had been pure ten year old.

"Makes me wish I could spank incorporeal beings." Karen said with a groan. She slumped and then smiled. "Love you too, Hadi." That was snide but she was smiling as she turned to Horatius and her smile fell. "This is a mess, Commander and no mistake. I am probably going to get kicked out of the Corps for this, but Hadi needed help."

"You introduced yourself as a PFC. Private First class." Horatius said flatly. "What else are you? No human can handle such a weapon." He had tried once to learn to use a Glaive. He had nearly cut his own arm off and had sworn never to try again.

"Actually, I made starshy praporshchik and you are wrong." Karen said with a wince. "This weapon was made for a human to wield. A particular human. Thank god she never picked it up. I don't know what would have happened, but it likely would not have good for either of them." Her grimace spoke volumes.

"What human?" Horatius all but demanded. He ignored the odd rank. He had no idea what that meant, but she was likely still enlisted. She was not acting like an officer.

"Talia the First." Karen replied and Horatius felt his whole world start to shiver. "This weapon was made for her at her orders."

"With the soul of a _little boy_ inside?" Horatius fought to stay calm. It was hard, but he managed. "Pull the other one. I know rulers do not rule by being nice, but everything I have read about her says she was not evil."

"She wasn't." Karen stared at the Glaive, her eyes glistening. "She was pushed into the role. She did not come from royalty. She came from a farming family. She lost them and found a new home among the First Tenno. She was not Tenno, but felt a debt to them and to humanity as a whole. She found a cause there among the Tenno."

"How do you know that?" Horatius demanded, fear rising. "Such knowledge..." He broke off as Karen held up a placating hand.

"The knowledge in and of itself is not dangerous." Karen was trying to reassure him and it worked a bit. He relaxed a little. "It is available if desired, but the place it is stored is very hard to access. I have been there and I have no words." Karen's face and voice held awe. Then her face fell to desolation. "Talia's journals from that time are heart-breaking."

"Even _Avalon_ doesn't have such. I looked at a bit of ancient history while I was there the one time I remember. The only place that _might_ have such would be… the... Tenno… Citadel..." Horatius trailed off as Karen nodded. "No." He breathed, staring at Karen. "You? How? They let _humans_ in?"

Just the _thought_ of such knowledge available to humans made his head spin. Orokin. The wonders. The horrors. The untold levels of bad that could result if the Corpus _ever_ found out about such a treasure trove would make any Grineer pogrom look like a walk in the park. Human blood would flow in rivers.

"There is much I cannot say, Commander." Karen said heavily. "Much that you simply do not want to know." Horatius nodded, manifestly against his will. He knew that. "I did my thesis for my final test to become starshy praporshchik on the end of dependency on fossil fuels and the wars that resulted. The wars that engulfed humanity and led to the rise of the golden Orokin. The Citadel has the best records of that." She shook her head. "Talia never planned on the gold skinned creeps. As far as I can tell from my studies, no one did. To the day the Empire collapsed, many historians thought it was a genetic mutation."

"Or some kind of experiment." Horatius said soberly and Karen nodded. "Humans are nothing if not boundlessly curious when they should not be."

"That is entirely possible and might have even been planned. There were many on Earth who wanted rulers." Karen said with a shrug. "Perhaps not the slave-masters that the Orokin eventually became, but someone to take control? Someone bred and trained to do so in the best manner available? Tell me that would not be appealing to many even now. If the Corpus _bred_ someone to take the Chair of the Board?"

"That is what Bek tried with Darvo. Good thing he failed. Humans are nothing if not lazy as a whole. Still herd animals even to this day, for the most part." Horatius said with a growl of annoyance. "So… What does this have to do with the history of the Tenno? With a Glaive that has the soul of a little boy inside it? A little boy that looked a lot like the shade of Hayden Tenno?" He said with a gulp as he remembered Hayden's rage. "And I thought _Nikis_ was scary."

"Who do you think taught Nikis how to _be_ scary?" Karen asked. She took a deep breath and then nodded to the Glaive. "I am getting to it, Hadi. Go on, rest. I will call you if I need you." Horatius was so reeling that he barely noticed when the Glaive folded around Karen's hand and wrist, forming an odd half glove, half bracelet thing. It molded to her flesh and all but vanished. "He is trying to be good, Commander. He really is."

"He called Hayden 'Father'." The Special Forces soldier said slowly. Karen pursed her lips and nodded. He continued. "Is that true?"

"Technically, no." Karen said with a wince. "Hayden did not sire any children. He refused to pass the infection on to anyone else. Hard to blame him, really. But emotionally? Spiritually? Idealistically? Yes. Hadi is Hayden's son. He wanted and wants to make his father proud of him."

"I am not going to like this, am I?" Horatius said slowly. Karen shook her head. "Cloning?"

"Nothing so simple or straightforward." Karen sighed deeply and then visibly forced herself to relax. "When Hayden Tenno was killed, a lot of things happened at once. Various enemies of the Tenno and Orokin tried to take advantage of the sudden chaos in the Tenno ranks. Oris and Galintra..." She paused. "You heard?"

"It was hard to miss." Horatius made a face and Karen shared it. "Even with all the bad currently, it shocked everyone. I do hope they can find a way for Katherine and Nova to come back."

"Me too." Karen sighed. "Katherine came to Avalon, to beg the Empress' aid. We all tried what we knew. Nothing worked. She was so strong and so brave even when hurt. The Marines would have taken her in a heartbeat. We offered, but she turned us down. She said she was too dangerous. Too many enemies trying to get hold of what she is. Not who, _what_. A truly superior human."

"Idiots." Horatius bowed his head for a moment. "But she is free and hopefully out of their reach."

"Anyone trying for her will face Nova's wrath and that won't end well for Tenno _or_ human." Karen agreed. "But that leaves us with this mess. We are going to need help, Commander. You and I cannot do what must be done alone."

"What is it that you think must be done?" Horatius asked very carefully.

"After Hayden fell, the Orokin Empire had a crisis." Karen said softly. "Their greatest defender had fallen to a supposed ally."

"A marine shot and killed him." Horatius said softly. Karen nodded. "One of these… spets- things?" He inquired.

"Spetsnatz in the common vernacular." Karen corrected. "The actual wording is far longer and not really germane. No one has spoken the Russian language for millennia. Basically, the phrase it comes from means 'forces for special tasks'." Horatius inhaled and Karen nodded. "Just like your people. The Marines had their own Black Ops division and they were very, very black. They were pragmatism personified. The end _always_ justified the means. They called themselves 'Spetsnatz'."

"I have seen what regular marines can do." Horatius said softly. Karen nodded. "Even with not a lot of you, the sheer amount of well aimed firepower you can put out is daunting." Karen nodded again. "What could _they_ do?"

"Just about anything you can imagine and then some. Usually quietly. You never knew they were there until things went wrong. Then things got loud and messy. They were always about the mission. No more, no less." Karen shivered and Horatius shared it. "The Tenno of the time were always focused on outbreaks of the Technocyte Virus. They didn't interfere in politics until and unless people were dumb enough to involve them. Hayden never wanted the Tenno to get involved in such." She said sadly. ""Tenno serve, they do not rule'. That is the core of the Tenno Code."

"So I have heard. I thought Michelle was Tenno." Karen stilled at Horatius' soft words. "We heard a bit. She is next in line for the throne."

"She _was_ Tenno." Karen said flatly. "She isn't now."

"That is possible?" Horatius asked and stilled himself as Karen glared at him.

"It hurt her very, very badly." Karen said with a growl. "That was _before_ another huge mess erupted around her. A coup attempt failed and she survived. Barely. She is not Tenno, but she still shares some of the core values. She was called to rule, and she knows her duty. She was not suited for it, but she is learning fast."

"Better than _Jesse_." Horatius quipped and Karen grimaced.

"Much!" The marine agreed. "And before you ask? If Jesse had to take it? She could, but she too would be bound by her flesh. No one wants to try and limit her unless there is no other choice. We know better." She nodded to the Glaive. "We learned. Marine and Orokin royalty alike."

"What happened?" Horatius asked. "I mean, if Hayden had a son… But he did not sire the boy… Then _someone_ made it happen."

"Talia did." Karen's words were flat. "She loved Hayden, if not in any normal way. The First Tenno was her rock. Her strength when everything went to hell, which it did often in those days."

"I really do not like where this is going." Horatius said softly. Karen nodded.

"Not do I." The Marine slumped a bit, staring at her hand. "According to every record and what Hadi says, Talia meant well. She really did. She had no way of knowing what would happen. No one did. No one had a clue about Tenno biology apart from the warframes except Tenno and _they_ were just as closed mouthed then as now."

"Hard to blame them." Horatius smirked and then sighed. "So, she loved him and what? Made a copy?"

"She tried." Karen looked at the floor. "It wasn't her fault that she failed many, many times. She just kept trying. In her rare spare time, she kept trying to find a way to bring Hayden back. I am pretty sure she blamed herself for his death. I think by the time Hadi and his sister happened, it was an obsession. Hayden was in the database, but she didn't know about the curse that resulted from that yet. From what I gather, Nikis was remarkably gentle when he broke the news. When he told her what she had done, she still broke down anyway. I think that knowledge is what killed her in the end. What she had done to so many who trusted her."

"She… made this Hadi boy." He nodded to the Glaive. "In that?"

"In order? Yes and no. Talia made a wonder, but this?" Karen sighed deeply and then shook her head as she tapped her wrist that held the camouflaged Glaive with her other hand. " _This_ was his sister's doing. And again, I don't think it was intended as evil."

"Why not?" Horatius was too tired to demand that, although he wanted to. He was so very tired now..

"Because Hadi was dying." Karen said softly and Horatius jerked awake. She nodded to him, her face grave. "His sister found a way to save his life."

"His… sister." Horatius said softly.

"Yes." Karen blew out a deep breath. "Her name is Tali. She wears armor that appears in every way to be an Ivara warframe and she is on her way back to the Origin system as we speak."

"A warframe. A Tenno." Horatius hadn't thought he could get any more stiff. He did when Karen shook her head.

"No."


	10. Chapter 10

**Arrows**

"Not a Tenno..."

Horatius sighed and shook his head.

"You almost had me there. I mean, I can see a grieving woman trying to bring someone she loved back." The Special Forces Commander shook his head. "Making kids? A but unethical, but it has been done. But _Tenno_ wear warframes." His voice turned cold. "No one else."

"Not always. Alad V made a warframe that he filled with Infested flesh. He wanted a puppet that followed his commands. So he made one." Karen replied, not fazed at all by the sudden change of mood. "I do not blame you for doubting. This does stretch the limits of credibility to the breaking point. I can prove what I say though." She shook her head and turned her head to the Glaive. "No! I won't act unethically, Hadi. Besides, all it would likely do is piss him off." She warned. "The Commander _has_ to have countermeasures against any conceivable controls and then there is his dad. Don't even _think_ about angering Nikis! Kid or no, he _can_ destroy you and he _will_ if you push him too hard."

"He wants you to..." Horatius broke off as Karen shook her head savagely.

"Hadi is thinking with his heart, not his brain." The Marine reassured the commander. "He is a kid, commander. He doesn't understand the long term consequences of some actions. How can he? He took control of me _with_ my consent." She glared at her wrist. "You will find it _far_ harder if you try that _without_ my consent." She warned the unseen boy. "No, No..." She said quickly and Horatius had to smile at her sudden discomfiture.. "I am not angry, Hadi. And turn off the tears. I _know_ kids. I know how kids try to manipulate adults. Don't try to manipulate me. I have been manipulated by masters and taught how to keep it from happening again. Besides, such really makes people angry." She paused and nodded. "Apology accepted. Go back to sleep." That was sour and Horatius had to chuckle at her expression as she turned back to face him. She shrugged and then slumped a bit, her face falling. "This is going to be so much fun."

"You did volunteer, did you not?" Horatius asked slyly and Karen groaned. "Then it is on you."

"Don't remind me." Karen shook her head. "I am regretting it more and more as time goes by. We will strike a balance, Hadi and me. Eventually. For right now, though? His sister is the problem, not him. He is a good kid and he trying to make his dad proud of him. He is trying to follow the Tenno Code. He doesn't understand half of it, but he is trying."

"And...his sister?" Horatius asked slowly.

"Ah yes, Taliana. Everyone called her 'Tali'." Karen pursed her lips. "You are right in that only Tenno wear warframes, but the First Tenno wore armor that became part of themselves as they were infected and chose to continue on with their path as Tenno. The _very_ first warframe was an experimental suit of armor that bonded to the First Tenno. It did not define who he was, it enhanced what he was."

"And this Tali..." Horatius pressed carefully.

"She is spetsnatz." Karen's words were calm and quiet, but Horatius jerked anyway. "I do not know where she found it in the first place or who made it. If those records exist, they are classified far beyond my reach. I _do_ know she wanted to help her brother and did." She nodded to her wrist. "But then, he was trapped in a machine and she fought to find a way to get him out of it. Her mother was alive at that point, but a wreck, both physically and mentally. Talia ordered the Glaive made for some reason that she refused to divulge and no one dared argue. Talia's first borne son had taken the Crown and the responsibilities. Technically, Tali and Hadi were illegitimate, but that did not diminish their love for Talia or her love for them. When Hadi took terminally ill, Tali took steps, encasing his energy in this." She tapped the Glaive. "Once Talia died, both Hadi and Tali knew that if she showed herself as she was..." The Marine trailed off as Horatius exclaimed in comprehension.

"She could trigger a secession war." Horatius said softly. Karen nodded. "And Orokin was new. Still fragile." Karen nodded again. "So, Tali found a different path?"

"Hadi says that she was trying to find out what happened to Hayden. But no one knew." Karen shook her head. "No one knew why one of the Orokin Marine task force that had been sent to aid the Tenno in dealing with a fairly nasty mess shot and killed the First Tenno. No one. It might have been a random act of violence. Orokin was new and so were the marines. Various military forces had resisted assimilation, some fairly strongly. But that guy had been a Marine in another service. A different service. One called the Royal Marines. No one knew _why_ such an honorable and decorated Royal Marine sergeant would level his rifle at Hayden and shoot him in the back of the head while Hayden was stealthily approaching an objective. It didn't make any sense. No one to this day can give a good reason."

"The First Tenno himself said there may not have been one." Horatius said with a frown. "So, she did did not find an answer. What then?"

"She was bound and determined that such would never happen again." Karen said with a growl and Horatius nodded. "She decided then and there that she would make _sure_ that such never happened again. She joined the Marines, rose to middle rank and was instrumental in founding the 'spetsnatz'. She was one of the first true Orokin Marine spetsnatz and she was damn good by all accounts even for us." Horatius stared at her and she shrugged. "There had been other special forces types, but the Marines were mostly geared for set pieces battles, not Black Ops."

"Very different worlds." Horatius agreed, his mind whirling. "And the armor?"

"She found in a lab, took it to the Tenno who..." Karen broke off with a wince. "The Tenno were ambivalent about her. The eldest of the Tenno, Trinity, Nyx, Mag and the others, they made her welcome. The newer Tenno saw her as a continuation of Oris' and Galinta's madness. Nikis hated her guts on sight. " Horatius stared at the Marine who nodded. "None of the corporeal Tenno wanted anything to do with her or would cross Nikis. I bet that stung, but she was never anything other than professional to them." The Marine enlisted shook her head. "The armor bothered many to the Tenno of the time, but none argued when Mag's shade gave it to Tali who put it on and used it." Horatius stiffened and Karen nodded. "You can see how that might go over with the others."

"Not well." Horatius growled and Karen nodded.

"A masterful understatement." Karen agreed. "She was not Tenno, but she was not human either. She was something in between. They-..." She paused as Horatius coughed.

"You can say 'we'." Horatius said quietly. "I cannot sense energy as a Tenno can, but my implant sensors are very sensitive. I can sense that you are different from me." He shook his head as Karen stilled. "I didn't think Tenno could be Marines. Don't you have to be human?" He wasn't sure if he should ask that question, but he was very curious.

"Tenno are energy that inhabit meat bodies." Karen said softly. "I was a meat body at first. A human, in fact. I became Tenno in an odd way and it took some time for me to fully acclimatize and take my Trial. I am Tenno now, but _this_ body is human. I had significant problems and everyone thought that the training would help. None of us thought I would pass Recruit Training. Least of all _me_." She admitted. Horatius smiled at her, an oddly compassionate smile. "Commander?"

"You know? I felt the same way when I was selected for special training." Horatius admitted. "I was just a Prodman at the time. My life expectancy wasn't all that great, but I was good at what I did and my tactical skill kept me and my team alive far longer than normal for such teams. So the higher ups decided to upgrade their tool. I don't think the Reverend Mother was involved, but I don't know. It is the kind of thing she might have done. I did need the boost to my self esteem after a lot of things went wrong. It was probably pure luck that I would up in the Special Forces unit commanded by Gen H-12 but I don't know. She saw something in me that I have yet to see in any of my own people. A possible successor."

"Gen H-12." Karen said very quietly. "The one who helped Lis."

"Yeah." Horatius looked at the floor. "She was not a nice woman. But she tried to do good. She was used for evil one too many times and snapped. If I had been there whens he took revenge? I would have covered her back gladly, died protecting her while she erased the scum who had broken her. Used her and her soldiers to kill civilians for no reason other than greed. Then she vanished and we assumed she had been executed. We were all surprised to discover when the Reverend Mother managed to spirit her away, hide her until just recently during the mess with Lis and Sara. When she finally died, the Forces lost an icon. We heard about the impending assault, of course and contacted her clandestinely. We wanted to help her, but she refused. She said that she was lost, that _we_ were needed. I so wanted to do it anyway, go to stand beside her myself, even knowing the cost. To die with her." He slumped. "The mission came first. She begged us to help Lis and Sara. We did." He shook his head. "Profit help me, we did."

The Commander generally had little use for the Corpus mantra, but in this case? That was about a religious as he could get.

"In our world, there is no black and white." Karen said softly. "Only shades of gray. Good and evil are for priests and philosophers, not soldiers or marines." Horatius nodded. "What Gen H-12 did for Sara, Lis and so many children was a good thing. Whatever she did before, _we_ will remember her for that." She gave herself a shake. "Anyway, about Tali. She is human. A fully trained, augmented and very dangerous Special Forces operative in armor that mimics an Ivara warframe. She was given a thoroughly fucked up mission." Horatius stared at Karen who nodded. "She did it and survived."

"Is that good or bad?" Horatius inquired carefully.

"Both." Karen made a face. "Humans were not the only ones who wished to separate from Orokin." Horatius stared at her, uncomprehending and Karen sighed. "Do I need to spell it out, Commander?"

"I think you do." Horatius said softly. "Separatists caused all kinds of havoc under Orokin. That is why the Marines were kept! Why the naval forces and army were kept. The Dax couldn't handle it all, no matter how good they were, they couldn't be everywhere. They couldn't fight all of the violence alone if their masters had even _let_ them."

"These separatists were not violent." Karen said quietly. Horatius stared at her and Karen shook her head. "That said, they were also not stupid. They knew that there was entire universe out there, most of it at least ambivalent about human life and much of it hostile. They built an incredible weapon system into the ship that they constructed to take them out of the Origin system. I do not know the details, that was way above my clearance, but Hadi says that the bolts that are fired by the weapon are physical. The are accelerated and shifted into some alternate quantum dimension before coming back on top of their target."

"On… _top_..." Horatius said slowly.

"The one time the weapon was tested, the bolts tore a derelict Orokin navy ship that they had purchased to pieces even after its shields were at full." Karen said quietly. "The weapon bypassed the shields, bypassed the armor. The bolts hit the targets designated and _nothing more_."

"Damn." Horatius felt faint. Then again, he knew how strong Orokin shields had been. He had tried to get though a couple in his career. Tried. "That… Oh no. The military did not take that well did they?"

"Define 'take that well'." Karen asked with low moan. "Even the non-separatist _Tenno_ were worried about that weapon. It was and _is_ the ultimate sniper. That is why a team of spetsnatz, led by Tali, were sent to aid the Separatists in escaping the system. Their cover was mercenaries hired to protect the non-combatants. Their orders were classified, but I can guess. The royalty of the time did not want to anger the Tenno, so they probably waited until the ship was out of normal communication range before disabling the weapon."

"And killing anyone who tried to stop them." Horatius' word were flat and Karen nodded.

"Something went wrong." Karen said heavily. "We do not know what. There was no further communication from the ship. The spetsnatz did not return for a very long time. Six hundred years." Horatius goggled at her and Karen nodded. "The humans had all perished by then, but the spetznatz had always been sneaky and well equipped to make more of themselves. The _only_ good thing was that they were also highly loyal. It was literally bred into them. Several families produced soldiers who took the training, who tried to for the role. Few succeeded. Many died trying. _Two_ spetznatz returned from that mission. One died shortly thereafter. The other perished in the Collapse."

"No, she didn't!" Hadi's hologram appeared. "That was _Anna's_ voice!"

"Hadi! Go to sleep!" Karen snapped. The holographic boy looked abashed and vanished. Horatius looked other and Karen nodded. "They brought this back with them." She nodded to her wrist. "Him. This had been made for Talia before she died, but Tali took it up and carried it with her brother's soul safely ensconced within. She carried it until that mission. Apparently, the spetsnatz were not the _only_ ones secreted on the ship to try and do something with the weapon. When Tali's team acted, a three way war erupted. The Tenno were asleep in cryo pods. Seven spetsnatz versus a couple hundred hired guns."

"No contest." Horatius said with a smile that Karen shared.

"No contest." Karen agreed. "But the ship was badly damaged in the fighting and the enemy, whoever had sent them, laid a virus in the AI core before being wiped out. Said virus was supposed to activate the weapon and target specific enemies. Most of those enemies are gone now. Not all."

"Nikis is still around." Horatius stilled as Karen nodded. "You have got to be kidding!"

"He is on the list." Karen said quietly. "So the holder of the Crown."

"Targeting the Royal Family?" Horatius said weakly. Karen nodded again. "Who else?"

"A couple of other old Tenno who may or may not still be around." Karen said quietly. "The Grineer Queens."

"What?" Horatius all but swooned. "How the _hell_ …?"

"They were not the Queens then." Karen said with a wince. "They were different. I am betting an Orokin sent that team with the kill orders. Whoever it was, they are almost certainly dead by now." She paused and nodded. "Hadi thinks it was intended as a threat only. A gamble to gain power. That is the kind of thing that Orokin did. Power plays, covert actions, stealthy assassination. That was what they did. Their 'Great Game'. The list is long, but most of the people on it are dead, verified dead."

"The weapon has not fired. So it is either out of range, does not have clear targets or something else that we do not know." Horatius said softly. "Any Corpus on that list?"

"No." Karen replied. "All of your people are too young. If it gets here and detects people in power that it does not know who have been and are still broadcasting all sorts of anti-Tenno hate, your guess is as good as mine if it will target them or not. I bet it will."

"People in power." Horatius was reeling now. "'It'?"

"From what Hadi says, the AI is apparently trying to accomplish its primary mission. To defend those it was programmed to defend. Tenno. The virus told the AI that the people on the list were attacking the ones it is programmed to defend." Karen shrugged. "It only had one way to deal with such."

"And the spetsnatz stopped it." Horatius said softly.

"Mostly." Karen qualified. "They had no way to destroy the ship itself. You know how robust Orokin tech was. Even reactor breaches do not destroy the ship and it would self repair in time. Not to mention all the Tenno non-combatants aboard. The ship had no faster than light capability. It was intended to take thousands of years to journey to its destination. They had no way to destroy the ship or the AI. So they improvised."

"Sounds familiar." Horatius smiled a bit sadly and Karen matched it. "What did Tali do?"

"She merged with the AI." Karen bit her lip. "From what Hadi has said, he felt part of it., A great deal of pain and fear. Tali tried to get the AI to understand what was happening, but it did not. Instead? It took her over. Her last commend was for her remaining people to flee with Hadi. They jumped in a lifeboat with a few human survivors and did just that. The return voyage took several hundred years. Most of that, they spent in cryo. All but two of them died in transit. The ship traveled on, but now? It is coming back."

"Why?" Horatius demanded. "That makes no sense."

"Actually it does." Karen said very sadly. "If you know that the fail-safe for the AI was to return its people here to the Origin system in case of catastrophe. Hadi told people that when the spetsnatz reported. The Tenno were very upset."

"I am not sure I blame them." Horatius said slowly. "I have had mission go bad on me, but that?"

"It get worse- _Oh shit!_ " Karne was on her feet as a form appeared in the middle of the room. The Loki warfame held a sniper rifle in hand and from his posture, he was furious. Hadi was in Karen's hand, up to ward as the Loki took aim at her with his long rifle.

"What the-!" Horatius started to rise but was slammed back to his chair as _another_ Tenno shimmered into view. This one wore an Ash warframe and the Sheev he held to Horatius' throat glistened with toxin. This other hand held Horatius to the chair as another Tenno appeared in the room. This one, Horatius knew and liked. "Olim!"

"Don't move, Commander. You are in grave danger." The Grandmaster of the Cyberlancers said firmly as he focused on Karen who did nothing as golden code swept towards her, but was rebuffed! "Karen. Stand down. We can separate you from it."

"I cannot allow that." Karen's tone as flat as she faced three Tenno in warframes. "I cannot allow you to do what you wish. You know this. Hadi is blameless. You will hurt him and I will not allow it. I know my duty. Do you?"

"Karen, you are not in control." The Loki's voice was strained. Anger and something else. "Let us help you."

"Like you Tenno scum helped _Anna?_ " That was Hadi's voice, but it did not come from Karen! It came from the table as Hadi's hologram appeared there. The boy was _enraged_. "Leave her alone, you _nekulturny_!"

"Hadi, let me handle this." Karen was still quiet, calm and ready. The hologram nodded to her and vanished. When she spoke, it was formal. "You know not what you do, Tenno. I will not allow you to harm Hadi or me. You did it to Anna. You will _not_ do what you wish to Hadi or his sister." She shook her head. "I give you my word, we will kill none of you. Vsedga veren."

"Karen… don't." Olim warned. All three Tenno were focused on Karen who slowly crouched to a ready stance, her hand posed with the Glaive. " _Listen_ to yourself! The weapon is _controlling_ you!"

"Is it? Commander?" Karen said in conversational tone. "Down."

Horatius did as instructed, hitting the floor before his brain caught up with her command. That was the only warning before a door that Horatius had not seen opened on the side of the room and a swarm of _silent_ bullets tore from the four beings who stood beyond it. Two Grineer. Two humans. One drone. All _furious_.

Helen stood with her spetsnatz comrades as their ambush hit the surprised Tenno and Karen rolled out of the way.


	11. Chapter 11

**Anti-heroes**

Horatius wasn't sure which side he was on, so he just hugged the floor as bullets hit two of the three Tenno, slamming into the Loki and Ash. The Frost Prime just stood there in the midst of the fire, golden code flashing as bullets bounced off his enhanced shields.

"No!" Karen screamed as Olim's code flashed out at the newcomers, but it hit something in the doorway and stopped cold.

"Did you _really_ think we would not prepare, starshy praporshchik?" The female human who stood with a blazing Karak rifle demanded, her fury a tangible thing. "Tenno are incredibly powerful, but as always, they much prefer targets that cannot _fight back_." She pulled a grenade form her belt, but paused as Karen shouted again.

" _No, Major! You are better-_ " Karen collapsed in a heap as the sound of a pistol came. Horatius spun to see the Loki sitting up, a smoking Lato in his hand. Karen stared at him from the floor, her face a mix of dumbfounded shock and horror. White enveloped Horatius as a Snow Globe flashed out from the Frost Prime's hands. He and Karen were inside. The others? Outside and while they redoubled their fire, none of it penetrated.

"No..." Karen begged as she grabbed at her belly where a red hole shone in her fatigues. "You don't… You don't understand..."

"We understand." The Frost moved to the Loki and green mist fell from his hand. Even when he spun to his feet, the Loki was aiming at Karen who was crying softly now. "You are a mess. We will help you, Karen."

"Like you helped Anna." That was Hadi again from Karen's lips as she slumped. "Hurting people is all you know to do, isn't it, Tenno?"

"You will not hold her." That came from the Loki was was still aiming at Karen. The Ash did not speak as he too rose to take his place by Olim's side. "She will be free of you."

"Yeah." Hadi sounded resigned now. "Just like Anna. You will hurt her, make her scream and cry when she hasn't done anything wrong. It is just what you do. Easy, Karen..." He begged as Karen tried to stem the flow of blood from her side. "Easy."

"You… don't… understand..." Karen said weakly in her own voice. "You think you do but you don't any more than the one who took Anna and hurt her did." She screamed feebly as the Ash moved to her side raised a hand over her to digitize her. " _You have no idea what you are doing!_ "

"You will think differently once-" Whatever else the Loki was going to say was cut off as the Snow Globe vanished and a blue sphere of energy encompassed the group. Horatius stared. Was that a Nullifier sphere? For the Tennos' reaction? It sure seemed that way.

"I would prefer to slaughter you all here and now." Major Anna's voice was cold as she and her compatriots moved to cover the group. "I know it would do no good, that all we would do is destroy the warframes, but I _do_ owe your kind a great deal of pain. The starshy praporshchik wishes me not to. That is the _only_ reason any of you three still breathe. Now?" She shook her head. "Where is the fourth? There are always four in Tenno strike cells."

None of the warframes moved as Karen turned on the floor to look at the major. The motion clearly cost her, but she shook her head as the spetsnatz aimed at the Tenno and vice versa.

"If you fire, everyone dies and no one wins, Major. Tali will wake surrounded by death and destruction and she will look for Hadi. You know it. Hadi is the only one who can stop-" Karen screamed anew as the Ash nudged her side. He could have kicked her, so that was better. Some.

"Get away from them, you son of a bitch!" Anna snarled, her rifle falling to the side and an oddly shaped pistol rising in one hand. What came from the pistol was less bullets than a torrent of… _water_? When the stream hit the Ash, he gave a cry and rolled away, but her aim did not falter. Was the energy inside the warframe fading? It _was!_ "I said get away from her! I would do it unless you _enjoy_ having your energy sloughed away in a rush of fluid." Now she aimed at the Cyberlancer who stilled. "Yeah, _this_ time I came prepared for your treachery, Tenno. Medic!"

Helen nodded and moved to Karen's side, ignoring the two other Tenno who simply watched as Helen started to check Karen's wound.

"I can ease you, no more." Helen said softly. "This needs more than battlefield care. A good shot not to kill you with such a powerful round." She mused as she worked.

"Yes. He is a good shot." Karen said weakly as Helen tended her. "They will attack. They _will_." She warned.

"Of course they will." Anna replied, her aim still on the Cyberlancer. "They are trying to figure out how to counter my weapon. Once they think they can? They will attack. It is what Tenno do, kill stuff. Well, that and hurt people who cannot fight back. Nothing to say, Tenno? Easy to hurt people when you have the advantage. Not so easy when you don't, is it?"

"Brave words from a Grineer slave." Olim's voice was as cold as his powers. He was clearly not expecting Anna to laugh. The others laughed with her, even Helen!

"You have no clue, Tenno." Anna said with a snort. "None. You and your kind see things through a very narrow window. Good for you but some of us are not so blinkered. I hate you and I have cause to. But you have _no idea_ what you are talking about. You never did and you never _will_."

"Is that so?" Olim inquired as the weapon in Anna's hand was suddenly rimed with frost. She shook her head as it shattered in her hand and fell in pieces. "Water freezes."

"That it does." Anna looked and sounded unconcerned as the three Tenno took aim at her. "You do not want to do that." She warned.

Horatius stilled as his implant sensors picked up traces of odd material from the gas that was now being expelled as the ice that had broken the pistol melted. Methane? No. He scrutinized his readouts, confused. The Tenno eyed Anna who smiled at them. His readouts bleeped a warning at him. Whatever that fluid was, it was volatile. Very.

"Tell me..." Anna said as she took a slow step back. "How many of your weapons will _not_ create flame or sparks when they hit objects or targets? Hmmm?" She asked, her tone snide. "Considering that the air here is being mixed with a fairly nasty compound… Nina Tal! Timer!"

Something hit the floor in between the Tenno and the spetsnatz. Not a grenade or a weapon. Was it? It started to flash and the flashes were coming faster.

"We could stand here all day, Tenno." Anna's voice was just as cold as Olim's now. "But I don't see the point. You will _not_ harm Hadi again." That was flat. "You will _not_ do what you plan to Tali. My own pain is meaningless. The mission is what matters. Blow us all to hell and my mission will still be completed. Go ahead, Tenno! Do what you do! _Kill stuff!_ "

"A fuel air explosive." Olim actually sounded respectful. "An interesting choice. Any unprotected human here would be pulp and even warframes are not proof from such."

"Feel free to freeze it." Anna smirked at him but paused as Olim shook his head.

"Freezing is heat exchange." The Frost Prime actually _chuckled_. "Which you have planned for. Damn, you _are_ good." He _bowed_ to her! "Anything we do to the timer _or_ the fuel will likely set it off." He shook his head. "Hurting you was wrong."

"And now, the soft approach." Anna shook her own head. "You waste your time, Tenno. I do not doubt that your code is even now seeking vulnerabilities in the chemical composition. It is what your kind _do_ , seek vulnerabilities. You do not have all the information. You _will not_ have all the information and you _do not care_."

"No." Olim replied. "I don't. I am trying to save Tali and Karen. That is all I care about."

"And like all Tenno everywhere, you couldn't care less that saving Tali will cause far more problems than it solves." Anna sighed as the air in front of her flashed golden and faded. "So noble and so _stupid_." She grinned and hit the floor. All the other spetsnatz did as well, Helen throwing herself over Karen. Horatius had a bare moment to activate his helmet before the world turned bright.

Horatius found himself lying against a wall, one of the Grineer lying beside him. Before he could even gather his wits, the female Grineer was aiming a pistol at him. He did not move, looking for the warframes. They were in _pieces!_ The blast pattern had been at waist height and torn all of them in half! _  
_

"How the hell…? Oh!" Horatius smiled as he stared at the other spetsnatz who were rising. "When he disabled it, he set off a trigger, didn't he?"

"No." Anna gave herself a shake as she rose. "I started the timer as soon as we sprang our ambush. There has to be a fourth here somewhere. They will attack and we have no chance when they are not taken completely off guard. We know our limits. So, we run like hell."

"The mission comes first." Horatius nodded. "Commander Horatius. Corpus Special Forces."

"Major Kristiana Keras, Orokin Marine Spetsnatz." Anna replied. "Starshy praporshchik Karen?" She asked as Karen groaned. "Status?"

"Hurts, but I will live. We will need him, Major." Karen pleaded as Helen rose to her knees, to check Karen's wound. "I have burned all of my bridges now." She stared at the fallen Loki and gave a soft sob. "I am sorry, Aeron. I am sorry." Everything seemed to come to a crashing halt as a Saryn Prime warframe stepped out of nowhere to stand in the doorway, blocking it. Karen stared at her, her face falling. "No. No, Rachel! _NO!_ "

"Save your strength, Karen." Rachel, the Leader of the remnants of the First said very quietly as everyone gawked at her. Even _Tenno_ stepped carefully around her. The Saryn Prime warframe had the least powerful of her abilities. Her Reaper Prime scythe and Sicarus Prime pistol? They were the least of her _weapons_. "You will need it."

"Yeah." Karen slumped. "You are going to break me like you broke the Major. But it is all good since Hadi isn't really human or Tenno?" She struggled to sit up and Helen helped her to do so. The human medic was shaking her head as everyone else stared at the incredibly dangerous being blocking their way.

"If you move too fast or too hard, you will start to bleed internally and then there will be nothing I can do in the field." Helen warned as she rose to stand protectively in between Karen and Rachel. "So now you kill us and take her?"

"Only as a last resort." Rachel replied, not moving as all of the spetsnatz aimed at her. "You are good. All of you. Even you." She nodded slightly to Helen who did not react. "We figured on a trick, but not _that._ " She sounded honestly appreciative! "The histories do not do you lot _justice_. You came in here _planning_ to blow yourself up?"

"Tenno history." Anna hawked and spat as Horatius rose cautiously to his feet. No one moved. No one seemed to dare. "We are just dupes. Traitors. Fools or whatever."

"Major..." The Saryn chided the irate spetsnatz gently. "You of all people know that history always has some bias or it doesn't get written. Whatever else is going to be said or done..." Rachel spoke slowly and carefully. "I _need_ to say this, not for anyone else, for _myself_ : I am sorry, Major. For what my ancestors did to you. For what they wanted to do to you. For the pain you endured. I do not understand it all and I am not going to. I don't think any Tenno can." Anna shook her head. "That said, I have no choice. I cannot let you leave with him. With her."

"And hurting people makes you Tenno feel better." Anna snarked, only to pause as Rachel shook her head.

"For me? It doesn't. I was born infected, Major." Rachel said softly. "I know what it is to be different. To be reviled for something that I had no control over. I was never human. I feel for humanity, because I was taught to. I was taught that I owe humanity service, duty and sacrifice if needed. I cannot know what it is to be human any more than I can know what it is to be a Grineer. All I have is my duty. To my family and to my Code."

"In that, we are the same." Anna said quietly. "If nothing else." The blue sphere expanded from Helen again to encompass the room, nullifying Rachel's most potent abilities, but no one relaxed. No one was that stupid.

"Pity." Rachel sighed heavily. "I think I would like you." She drew her scythe and Anna held out her hand and a _Glaive sprang into existence in her hand!_ It was almost an exact copy of the one Karen had wielded. It hadn't been there a moment before! Rachel shook her head. "You cannot win."

"I don't have to win." Anna said with a snarl as she set herself. "All I have to do is hold you long enough for my team to escape."

"Which you cannot." Rachel said with a growl as her scythe was suddenly glowing with channeled energy. "All you can do is die. Do not make me kill you, Major! You are a priceless asset to humanity now! Even working with Grineer there is hope for you!"

"You have no idea what you are talking about." Anna moved to stand between Karen and the Tenno. Then she gasped as Olim's half body lashed out with a golden kama in his sole remaining hand and she jumped, just a hint too late! Blood flowed down her armored leg. When she landed, it would not hold her weight and she went to one knee, snarling at Rachel and the Frost Prime. "Lousy stinking Tenno!"

"Olim!" Rachel cried as the remnants of the Frost Prime slumped again.

"He is recuperating!" A female voice snarled from the warframe. "Stop them, Rachel!"

"I will." Rachel promised as the warframe phased away. The other two broken warframes vanished as well. Rachel shook her head as the trio of hale spetsnatz formed up around their leader, all with melee weapons in hand. "Don't make me kill them, Major. I will." She warned. "I won't kill you or Karen." Horatius coughed from where he stood and she sighed. "Or you." She added sourly.

" _Thanks._ " Horatius put just the right level of snide in his voice. Was that a snicker that came from the male Grineer? No. It couldn't have been! "I think."

"Ward Karen, Commander." Rachel sighed again and set herself. "I give you my word I will try not kill them, Major!"

Horatius moved to where Karen lay now, but then paused. Her lips were moving. She was singing under her breath?

"Like any of us are going to trust _your_ word. Tenno _lie_. It is what you _do_." Anna snapped as she raised her Glaive to fight, even hobbled as she was. "Take me, hurt me, hurt _him_ or _her_. None of it will stop Tali! Nothing _can!_ "

"You are so right." A new voice! Rachel spun with an oath as a white Loki Prime stepped into the room. He walked right by Rachel, _ignored her,_ to step to where Karen slumped back on the ground. Horatius didn't dare move as _Sun, Grandmaster of Tenno Interrogators_ knelt down beside Karen, his hands oddly gentle as they checked her wound. He shook his head. "Armor piercing. At least he didn't use explosive." He patted Karen's hand. "It is okay, Hadi. I heard. I came. Rest. They won't let her die and _I_ won't let them take you again."

When the Loki rose, he held a metal bar in his hand. Not an ornate Tenno staff. Not any weapon that Horatius had ever heard of a Tenno using. It didn't glow! It didn't shimmer with elemental energy. It was just a long bar of metal. Why did that bother Horatius so badly? And why was _Rachel_ of all people _recoiling?_

"Grandmaster Sun." Rachel sounded more than a bit wary and Horatius did not blame her at all. "What are _you_ doing here?" _He ignored her!_ He flatly ignored the Leader of the First. What was he, suicidal? He wasn't as powerful as she was. Did it matter in the middle of the Nullifier field?

"Um… _Grand_ master?" Anna asked slowly. "You… They promoted you?" She sounded almost incredulous.

"Yeah. Eventually." Sun replied with a smile in his voice. "It took them a while. I pissed them off." He chuckled darkly. "Some things never change, Major. Still bleeding, I see."

"Still being a _jerk_ , I see." Anna slumped a bit. "She is coming. We can't stop that."

"I know." Sun did not move as Rachel eased to the side. His staff stayed between them.

"Sun? What are you _doing?_ " Rachel demanded. "Answer me, damnit!"

"I am stopping the Tenno from making a huge mistake. _Again_." Sun might have been carved from ice. "What they did the last time very nearly cost everyone everything. To my shame, I obeyed. I stood by and let Nikis do it. Never again. If you or any Tenno _touch_ Hadi again, I and all of my allies _will_ kill whoever does it or die trying. That includes touching his chosen partner." He inclined his head to Karen, but did not shift his focus from Rachel.

"What?" Horatius chorused that with Rachel. Both seemed equally dumbfounded.

"Nikis is not rational about the spetsnatz. It is hard to blame him after what he saw." Sun might have been discussing the chance for rain. "Seeing Hayden die that way would have torn at _anyone's_ sanity. Even the limited amount I have. But what he did to Major Keras and Hadi,..." Sun shook his head slowly. "He may have had the authority, but he had no _right_. He nearly caused an apocalypse that only a few ever knew about. Of them? Only _I_ survive." The bar spun in Sun's hand as Rachel took another step. "You will _not_ take them, Tenno Rachel. So swears Sun, normally Grandmaster Tenno but today? Today, I am a _Prince of the Royal Family of Orokin_ and _nothing more_. No Tenno will _ever_ touch my _brother_ again."

This time, the gasp of shock came from _every_ throat at those cold, dead words.

 _Sun, no!_ Hadi's voice pleaded from nowhere. _Don't do this! You can take her! Flee!_

"Anywhere you go, the Tenno will chase you if I do not hold their attention long enough for the spetsnatz to muddy the trail." Sun replied, not moving at all now. "Spetsnatz, flee. Now. Take Karen and the Commander and go. You will not want to be here in a few moments."

"Sun, do not do this." Rachel said softly. "You are Tenno."

"Am I?" Sun asked, still calm. "Am I _really?_ I have tried to follow the Code my whole life, but I walked alone, took a job that meant that I would _be_ alone, because I was different. Not Tenno." Rachel recoiled as Sun nodded. "That _was_ the justification that Nikis gave for tearing Hadi's energy from Anna, was it not? _They_ were not Tenno. Who cared how much it hurt them both? Who _cared_ how much it nearly cost _us_ _all?_ It wasn't important to him then or you now. You would do it again, because you know nothing else to do and you _can_ _never_ know the whole truth. So be it. I have done many things in my life that were wrong but needed. This? This is needed, but it is also _right_. You threaten Talia's son Hadi again. My _brother_. That will not stand. Guard yourself, Tenno! I come for you!"

"Sun!" Rachel shouted, too late. He was on motion and a moment later, so was she.


	12. Chapter 12

**Versus**

Horatius could barely believe his eyes as the two Tenno clashed and retreated. Sun and Rachel had both traded blows that would have likely cleaved a human in half, armor or no. He had seen Tenno fight. He had fought them a couple of times and usually wound up in the hospital, counting himself lucky to be alive when he wasn't able to flee. He had seen Nikis go full on cowboy against an entire horde of Corrupted.

This was worse in some ways.

Sun did nor speak again as he and Rachel clashed weapons again and again. Each time Rachel tried to pass Sun to get at Karen, she took a hit from the metal bar in Sun's hands and in one case, went flying. Each time, she shrugged off the impacts to attack again. Rachel's scythe had stopped glowing in the Nullifier field, but it was still easily the deadliest weapon present. Horatius did not know a lot about the various warframes but he did know that knew that Loki warframes relied on their stealth and speed to win battles, that they did not have the same levels of armor of heavier warframes. Sun's abilities were negated just as Rachel's were. It didn't matter. She was fast, he was _far_ faster. Every blow she struck he evaded or parried with ease and when _he_ struck, she staggered.

"We have to go!" Karen's voice was weak from where she lay. All four of the spetsnatz had moved to shelter her from the battle and Commander Horatius tore his eyes from the conflict despite every sense screaming at him to keep his eyes on the dangerous foes trading blows with each. She was breathing in gasps and Horatius took a deep breath before bending down to pick her up. She was heavier than she looked, but she did not resist as he hefted her carefully, trying to keep from jarring her wound. From the pale look on her face, he failed, but she did not comment.

"Follow us." Anna snarled as Helen helped her to her feet, one foot dragging. Clearly the hit had hamstrung her. "Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut."

Horatius did not react as both Grineer aimed weapons at him. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew hat if he stayed here, he would not enjoy whatever Rachel had planned.

"Karen! No!" Rachel shouted as Anna started off, then grunted as Sun slammed her again. "Sun! Don't be an idiot! Stop this!" Sun did not respond. Instead, he hit her again. Rachel's tone flattened. "Okay. Have it your way. Isha! Timothy! Now!"

Horatius staggered as something slammed into him. He stared as the Nullifier field from Helen faded and then vanished! Two warframe appeared nearby. An Equinox frame and a Limbo. Both had gold in places! Primes! They both held weapons aimed at the spetsnatz. Before either could act, the world shifted between one step and another. Horatius, Karen, the spetsnatz and the two Prime warframes suddenly stood in a large room filled with Grineer clones! It looked like a Grineer spacecraft! The Grineer seemed almost as shocked by their sudden arrival as Horatius was, but they shook it off as the Tenno reoriented, the Limbo readying himself.

A clang of metal on metal heralded Sun and Rachel hurtling into view. They were _still fighting!_ Now their abilities were free and Sun was darting in and out of invisibility while Rachel dropped Molts and threw Spores only to hit nothing but air.

"Grineer!" A loud male voice shouted as a huge form in armor landed beside the two warframes and his first hit threw the Limbo away as the Equinox spun to face the new threat. Sargas Ruk was pissed. His flamethrower belched, but the Equinox had tonfas in hand and she deflected the fire somehow. The Limbo rose from where he had landed, only to be dog-piled, _literally_ , by a large pack of Drahks and he was fighting for his life before he could activate any abilities. "Protect the spetsnaz!"

Horatius could do nothing but gawk as a dozen Grineer suddenly surrounded the hurt team. Four of then held shields that they hefted, blocking Tenno line of sight on the wounded. All of the others opened fire on the other Tenno.

"Idiots!" Rachel snapped as the Limbo took a hit and fell to lie still. The Equinox was backing away as Ruk advanced on her, dodging fire form the other Grineer as she did. "I didn't _want_ to do this!" She raised both hands but Sun grabbed her even as she cast her Miasma! He held tight to her arms and shoulders as the deadly toxins flew to coat _him!_ " _What? Sun! NO!_ "

" _GET THEM OUT OF HERE!_ " Sun screamed in agony as the incredibly potent mix of caustic materials melted his warframe. Bubbling flesh showed underneath it but he held onto her. " _NOW!_ "

Horatius had a bare moment to realize what was happening before at least five sets of armored hands grabbed hold of him and Karen. They bodily yanked him off his feet, tearing her from his hands. Then he was in motion, carried by at least four Grineer. Karen groaned in pain but choked it off as the Miasma spread, but far slower than normal. Sun's sacrifice was holding it at bay. Even _he_ couldn't hold such raw power at bay for long.

Grineer were falling to the Saryn's wrath all around the bay, but Horatius was through a door that was lined with more clones. At least one set of the hands that were holding him fell away, but others took their places and he was still in motion! Screams and 'boom's sounded from behind him as he was carried through green and brown corridors. Other Grineer hurried back the way they had come, all angry, all ready to obey their general's commands.

Finally, Horatius was set down on his feet and the four Grineer who had carried him moved to block the door they had entered the large room from.

"Call off!" Anna demanded. "Lead walking wounded."

"Eyes. Nominal." The female grineer's voice was calm and unhurried. That had to be artificial.

"Guns. Nominal." The male Grineer who stood beside Anna and helped her stand reported.

"Medic. Nominal." Helne snapped as she bent to check Anna's leg. "Ruk cannot hold those three for long."

"Long enough, I hope." Anna said as she looked at Karen. Before she could speak, Karen spoke.

"Scout. Alive. Barely." Karen said with a snap from where she had been laid on the deck. All eyes to Horatius whose mind flew and then he nodded. If he was not spetsnaz, the Grineer who surrounded them all likely would not react well. He was good, but against a ship full of them? Not that good. Luckily, he had always been fast in thinking and he knew what to say.

"Infiltrator. Nominal." Horatius nodded to Anna whose smile was small, but clear as Helen snarled and did something to her leg. Corpus did not like Grineer and vice versa, but if he was spetsnatz _pretending_ to be Corpus… Well, that was different, wasn't it? His mind shied away from the implications of impersonating an Orokin marine. He had larger problems right now. Such as three angry and incredibly powerful Tenno loose on a ship that he had no idea that where it was. "Orders, Major?" He asked.

"We need to get out of here, give Ruk and his forces time to recover their numbers." Anna said heavily. Helen rose and moved to Karen, checking the wounded Marine. She took a step and smiled as her leg held her weight. "How is Karen?"

"Bleeding." Helen snapped back, working feverishly. "I cannot stop it! Her augmentation is holding it for now, but I cannot stop it."

"Damn it!" Anna went to her knees beside Karen. When she spoke it was in another language, one Horatius did not know, but his translator did! {Sister, hold on! We will find you aid.]

[Major…] Karen's voice in the same language was weak. Her voice was barely audible. [Reina…]

"What?" Anna asked, stunned back into the common tongue. Karen tried to talk, but Helen did something and Karen lay still. "Reina? Who is Reina? What did she mean? Anyone?"

Horatius wracked his brain as the other spetsnatz looked at one another, clearly unsure. Then he stilled.

"We in orbit of Earth, aren't we?" Horatius said quietly. Anna looked at him and then she nodded, concern in her eyes for Karen and his presence. "Then I know where _we_ can go and no one _else_ likely can and you need to let _me_ do the talking."

"What did she mean?" Anna asked as Helen sat back, her face blank. "Medic?"

"I can't heal this, Major." Helen said weakly. "She needs more care than I can give in the field. I have stabilized her for the moment. It won't last." She warned. "Does this Reina, whoever she is, have medical care?"

"The best." Horatius said very quietly. "But she also brooks no trespass. Any who enter her domain without permission do not leave." He looked up and nodded as he saw they were in a Grineer cannon loading chamber. Normally, the shells held swarms of clones to board enemy ships. Any that got squished by the horrendous acceleration of firing and impact were meaningless. He could handle such, he had done it before. The question was if _Karen_ could as injured as she was. "She trusts no one, and _certainly_ not Tenno. She has cause."

"Who is Reina?" Anna demanded.

"Royalty."

* * *

A very loud five minutes later

Horatius stepped out of the shell, hyperaware of his surroundings. The beach they had landed on was pristine. No one had touched it in millennia probably. Well, no one _human_. He paused and smiled as he saw what he had hoped for. Paw prints in the sand that led up into the jungle. He did not move and instead? He opened his helmet and spoke aloud.

"I am Special Forces. My mission went bad. I have Orokin marine spetsnatz with me." Anna hissed from inside the shell but he shook his head. "Lying to her is a _very_ bad idea." He turned back to the silent jungle. "One of ours is wounded very badly. Shot by a Tenno."

"Well, well, well… We meet again, Commander." A familiar voice sounded and Horatius fought hard not to flinch as a small calico cat stepped out of the underbrush. He had only met the cat once, but once was more than enough to earn a healthy respect. Plus more than hint of fear. Intelligent cat plus specialized demolition training? Yeah. _Fear._ Matril was shaking his head as he looked at the Grineer shell. "You know, I kind of thought you guys went for sneaky stuff like us. _That_ wasn't sneaky."

"I know better than to try and sneak in here and frankly? No time." Horatius shrugged. "We had three of the First chasing us."

"The _First?_ " Matril inquired as _six_ sentinels hovered out of the silent forest to surround the capsule. Two Dethcubes, a Djinn, two Wyrms and a Helios. There were undoubtedly more in the shadows. And _worse_. "You picked a hell of a fight. Aren't you Special Forces guys supposed to be smart? Don't you know _better_ than to aggravate them?"

"It wasn't by _choice!_ " Horatius fought to remain calm under so many guns and Matril smiled at him. Horatius paused and then took a risk. "You know about Tenno and spetsnatz, don't you?" He inquired and Matril nodded.

"I do." Matril replied, but then stilled and rage suddenly flared in his voice. "Mind telling me why you have two Grineer in that pod?" He stilled as Anna took a slow step out of the pod. He stared at Anna's clearly Grineer armor and then at Horatius who slumped.

"My name is Major Kateriana Keras. The commander briefed me on what happened to your people." Anna slowly bent to one knee, her bad leg trailing. "If our lives be the price to save our colleague, so be it. The mission comes first. She is needed. I am not. Vsegda veren." She bowed her head.

"Vsegda veren." Matril said very softly. "Holy shit. The wounded one in there is known to us." He said slowly.

"All I can say is that Karen picked up something that bonded to her." Anna said very softly. "Something that is the key to a very bad thing that I and we are sworn never to let loose. The Tenno want to let it loose, not knowing what will happen or caring. We cannot allow that. I sought allies where I could." She met Matril's eyes calmly. "Nina Tal. Lancer. Step forward. Face the wrath of the Corps with honor."

The two Grineer did as ordered. Both laid their weapons just inside the overhanging lip of the shell and moved to stand by Anna. They both knelt beside her. All three stiffened as Helen stepped out of the shell, laid her weapons down and did the same! Horatius did not dare move as the Helios scanned her and beeped.

"Helen..." Anna said very quietly. "What the Grineer did to them is not reflected on you."

"I stand with my comrades, Major. You said you would give me the choice and I have made it." Helen snarled. "Vsegda veren." Anna stared at her and then at the cat as Matril started to chuckle.

"Hoist on your own petard, Major." The small calico cat stepped all the way up to Helen who met his gaze calmly. "And...Another." He shook his head. "Damn, you lot are just as scary as we are in your own way." He sighed as he stepped back. "I would not have believed it unless I saw I with my own eyes. Spetsnatz. After all this time, why _now?_ "

"No one is cleared for that." Anna said calmly. "Not even _us._ " At that, Matril stiffened and Anna nodded. "And yes, we know what that means. The Commander hasn't seen anything yet that will make a mindwipe needed for him. Us? The mission comes first."

Horatius had thought himself frozen. He was wrong. He stilled even further as a metallic red and black kavat stepped out of the jungle to look the group over.

 _There is only_ **one** _reason you would say that, spetsnatz._ _Hadi woke, didn't he?_ _That means Tali is coming back._ Liriel said very softly in her non-verbal way. Anna nodded. _I am cleared for_ _all of_ _it. I am the only one here_ _who_ _is_ _._

"Sun knows." Anna offered. "He stopped the First from capturing us. From taking Hadi away from Karen."

" _Karen? She_ picked it up?" Matril's voice held horror and Liriel moved to his side as Anna nodded. "Oh no."

"She knows." Anna said sadly. "But one of the Tenno who tried to take her, shot her. We think only to disable, but we cannot stop the bleeding. Do with us what you will. We do not matter. She does. Vsegda veren."

 _I always thought you lot should have gone with 'Any Mission, Any Time, Any Place'. That is so much_ **better** _than copying some silly Americans._ Liriel said dryly and Anna stared at her. _I was there when Tali proposed the idea. Ariana liked the kid. So did I. She knew how to give good scratches._

"Oh." For the first time since Horatius had met her, Anna looked a bit less than assured. "Uh..."

 _From your words, you have no love for Tenno. I have my own quarrels with Tenno._ Liriel said as she moved closer to Anna. _What did they do to you?_ She asked.

"I carried Hadi back after we lost Tali." Anna said very softly. "Nikis tore him from my energy, put him to sleep and locked him in a tomb. What was left of my mind took a long time to heal. It took almost a year before I could remember my own _name_. _Ten_ years before I could resume my duties." She froze as Liriel rubbed up against her. "Um..."

 _You speak for these?_ Liriel asked, eyeing the two Grineer who watched her warily. Kavats were no joke at any time. _This_ was no ordinary kavat.

"I do." Anna replied. "They have shown honor and courage. Flexibility and a dedication that far outstrips their peers. They have not sworn to me yet, but I believe they will."

 _If they do not, they will not leave this beach alive._ Liriel's tone was calm, but held no mercy at all. **You** _I will extend hospitality to. Them? The only place Grineer_ _and most Corpus_ _have here is as raw materials in our factories._

Anna turned to the two Grineer, but as one, they nodded.

"I knew only pain." The female Grineer said quietly. "Pain, rage, hate, all of that. You took my pain and showed me how to transcend it. You made me something more than I was. My life, my death, my entire being, I swear to the spetsnatz. Vsegda veren. She was suddenly glowing softly golden and then, she smiled. It was an odd look on the face of a Grineer, but it was heartfelt as she nodded to Liriel. "My name was Nina Tal, but that was my old life. I will need another." She looked at Anna who smiled forlornly. "Major?"

"This is sooner than I expected." Anna admitted. "I hadn't thought about it. We will choose you a better name." The former Grineer smiled back at her, but then her face froze. "Nina Tal?" Anna asked.

"The spetsnatz overrides have all taken and show tampering! My implants have been compromised since the last scan!" The sniper said flatly. "Harkonar! It _had_ to be! Resetting all of them now."

"Mine too. Resetting." The male said as he too started to glow. "My life, my death, my entire being, I swear to the spetsnatz. Vsegda veren." He clapped a hand to his chest and all three turned to Helen who nodded.

"You have your own agenda."Helen said softly. "You have been far kinder and gentler than any Corpus I have ever known. You have your own reasons for such. You needed me, but you have never lied to me, have you?" She asked Anna who smiled and shook her head. "You do not tell the whole truth, but you don't lie, do you?"

"We try not to when dealing with potential recruits." Anna shrugged. "Such tends to piss them off when they find out and they find all kinds of ways to make their comrades' lives hell. The job is bad enough without resentment like that festering. We pushed you harder than normal, because we do need your skills and abilities, but we have not lied to you."

"Then..." Helen mused. "I think I can do this."

"Helen, wait." Horatius said quickly. "I get the feeling this is for life."

"Life and beyond. For honor. For Empress. For humanity." Helen said softly, her face serene. "I know now what duty is and I can-"

"Helen!" Horatius begged. "We can give you _children!_ "

He had no warning before her Halikar rose on its own from where it had been laid to hit him. The impact threw him almost all the way to the water.


	13. Chapter 13

**Fury's match**

Horatius did not dare move. He stared up at the jet propelled mace which was hovering nearby and then at Helen whose face held rage. Neither of the incredibly dangerous felines moved, but he could swear Liriel had a look of satisfaction on her face. None of the spetsnatz moved, no one seemed to be _breathing_ as Helen's face clouded further.

"You dare." Helen's voice was wrong. It was calm, but not. "After everything the Company did to me, you _dare_ to say _that_ to _me?_ "

"I do not know all of what was done to you. My briefing was scarce. They said you needed to be extracted. That is all they told me." Horatius said softly, not moving at all as a pair of Taxon swept out of the jungle. One aimed at him, the other at Helen. Another shape was visible in the trees now and he gulped as the Diriga sentinel took aim at him. At this range, it couldn't possibly miss and armor was a joke against the weapon as such sentinels carried. None of them seemed to notice the flying mace. Or they did not care about it. "It is not _us_ offering, Helen." Horatius all but begged. "You won't know the name, but her name is Kieko."

He could not have missed the sudden in rise in tension in both feline forms even if he had been blind and deaf. Helen was clearly fighting herself as a new voice sounded. From her backpack!

"If you are lying about that, gent, I will make your death bloody memorable." The voice was male and sounded just as furious as Helen looked. "How much more must you bloody profit crazed nutcases hurt her?"

That was clearly no idle threat from how both felines reacted and _did not_ react to the new voice. They _knew_ this guy? Or _of_ him? Horatius would inquire carefully later. If he _had_ a later.

"That is not the mission!" Horatius found calm from somewhere. "I was ordered to extract her. Because Kieko was hurt. She was abused in ways that even _our people_ might balk at by a mad Orokin who is paying for his crimes." He offered Helen who just looked at him. "As bad as whatever happened to you was, she was abused just as badly and she wants to make a difference. She lost her memory due to what the madman did and she is recovering. Physically? She was altered into something that had both male and female anatomy." Helen hissed and Horatius nodded. "She demanded to be returned to female and she had been, but the other genetic material is hers and still exists. She wanted some good to come of the bad. She wanted to offer the chance at family to one to whom it was denied."

"You..." Helen swallowed hard and shook her head savagely. "Corpus lie! It is what you _do!_ " She snapped.

"This is not a lie." Horatius slumped to the sand. "I know Kieko. I knew her before this horrible episode and liked her. My wife loves her. Now? She is hurting so badly that we all fear for her." He looked at Liriel who had not moved. "You have every reason to distrust after what was done to you. After what happened to your kittens." He slumped as Matril hissed, but Liriel did not react. "If the Queen of Cats wishes my life, she has but to take it. My life has been in the service of humanity. I always knew my death would be."

"Da." Came from Anna and both former Grineer. None of them moved.

"Now?" Helen was clearly fighting herself and no one moved to help her. To hinder her. To try and stop her choice. "Why now? Where were you when I was taken and broken for something I _didn't do?_ Where were you when I woke in that hospital to find out that my own _father_ had betrayed the Corpus for me? For _me!_ Where were you when I found out I could never have kids because of some sick twisted security goon's _games_?" She was on her feet and none of the sentinels reacted as she strode towards Horatius, rage twisting her features. " _WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?_ " She screamed.

"I am not a god, Helen. I am just a soldier. I cannot be everywhere or defend everyone who deserves it no matter how much I may wish." Horatius just lay on the sand as she grabbed her mace from mid-air and held it ready to throw. "Kill me if you want. We failed you. I know it." He did not take his eyes from hers. "I know Corpus evil first hand, Helen. I know the pain, the degradation, the weakness that comes after the pain. How long did they hurt you?"

"I… I don't know." Helen choked out, clearly confused by the question but still enraged. "Weeks."

"I understand. I did not remember, but I did find records." Horatius did not look away and Helen met his eyes, her fury eclipsed by more confusion. "You think you are the first to be taken by Security for such reasons, Helen? They took me when I was a common Crewman because of some espionage that happened on the ship I served on. I was not involved. They did not care." Helen shook her head savagely and Horatius continued, his face sick. "Almost three hundred years and the emotions are still fresh. Even mind-wipes cannot remove the pain and fear. I needed to get past it. I did. It won't go away though as long as I live."

"Three... hundred?" Helen asked weakly as Horatius took a chance and slowly sat up. "I..."

"You have a right to your anger, Helen." Horatius said quietly. "I am not demanding that you do anything. I wanted to make sure you knew had other options. No more." He shrugged. "I may be crazy, but I am not stupid."

"Could have fooled me, you silly wanker." Came from the backpack.

"I..." Helen stammered. "I don't know." She stared at Anna who sighed deeply. "Major?" She all but begged.

"Don't look at me. We are not enslavers, Helen." Major Keras said quietly. "We hurt you, took you prisoner and left you no way out because we needed you, but we would not take the choice from you. Slaves do not make good soldiers. The Corpus have been discovering this over and over, that is one reason why they use so many proxies. That is why the Grineer focus on their service to the queens. Technically, the clones are slaves, but they are literally bred to serve and the Queens rebellion was not a short term deal. It took centuries for them to have any impact at all against the sheer mass of Orokin genetically engineered slave flesh." She shook her head and then looked at the two felines. "I was sent to arm the Grineer. To teach them how to make and use weapons that would work against Sentients and be easy to make and maintain. It was one of many desperation ploys during the Old War. Feel free to blame me."

Liriel looked at Matril who slowly relaxed. Then the calico cat spoke, it was quiet.

"I do not blame weapons for the actions of the hands that wield them. The past is past." Matril said softly. "We cannot change what has happened. We can only go on. We make choices, we deal with the consequences." Anna nodded, still not moving. "You are not Grineer."

"No." Anna agreed.

"Who gave you this mission?" Matril asked quietly. Liriel rubbed up against him and he paused. "Love?"

 _She cannot say._ Liriel warned. _Believe me when I say you_ **do not** _want to know, Matril._ That was worried and Matril stared at her before nodding. She stepped forward, rising high to look the kneeling spetsnatz major in the eye. _Are you all right?_

"No." Anna replied. "I have time, but no."

"Time?" Horatius and Helen chorused. They looked at one another and then Helen continued. "That… You are not talking about your leg, are you?" Anna shook her head. "Is there anything I can do?"

"No." Anna replied. "In a while, my body will shut down. Human bodies are not intended to last forever and even spetsnatz know this. We can cheat it, fake it, hold it at bay, but death comes for us all. We have our mission and it will be done. But after? I am tired." That was raw and hurting. Liriel rubbed her face against the human's and Anna smiled. "Can she stay?" She all but begged the Kavat.

 _We are not supposed to let anyone in._ Liriel said after a moment. _If we show any weakness, the various groups will start to circle like ancient sharks smelling blood in the water._ Anna nodded soberly. _That said, you ask for medical care_ _and such requirements were a part of the old Compact_ _. Does_ **she** _need any?_

"Yes!" Came from the backpack before anyone else could speak and the voice snarled. "And do not argue with me, you silly girl."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Doctor." Helen sighed and then dropped her Halikar to the sand.

 _Keep your weapons._ Liriel had a grin in her voice now. _Using them on any of mine would be a very bad idea here but we do have some wildlife problems still. Stupid crocodiles think_ **they** _are the top of the food chain._

"They won't try to eat _you_ again." Matril quipped as all of the others stared at Liriel. "You gave that one a terminal case of indigestion." Everyone stared at Liriel as she hissed at Matril, but her heart clearly wasn't in it.

 _I wasn't in time for the poor puppy, Matril._ Liriel said heavily. _But that monster will eat no more of ours._

"You are no more a god than we are." Anne held out a hand and when Liriel nodded, started to pet the Queen carefully. Liriel started to purr and Anna smiled a bit sadly. "No one is perfect."

"Hey!" Matril drew himself up, sounding affronted. "Speak for yourself!"

Everyone laughed as Liriel glared at him and he subsided. Smart cat.

* * *

Less than an hour later

"I am all right." Helen protested as Anna held her down to the bed. "Major! I am all right!"

"No, you are not." Anna said severely as the backpack that Helen had been wearing pulsed red and green on a table nearby. "You know we have been cutting your pain fairly significantly. We were always planning to regrow your legs. To repair what I did to hide you among the Grineer. You need to rest, Helen. You can decide what to do after you have had at _least_ twenty four hours rest."

"But you _need_ me!" Helen all but begged. " _Karen_ needs me!"

"Karen is in surgery right now." The voice of the doctor came from the pack. He sounded tired. Was that possible? "She is going to sleep for quite a while after that. At least as long as you need to. You have time to recover from our butchery. Helen, please. Take the time to heal while you have it. We honor you for your wish to continue with us, but things have changed. You have hope now."

"Working with you all is a dream come true." Helen was fighting tears as a hose extended form the table towards her face. She glared at it as the end expanded into a mask. "I can make a difference. I… I want to make a difference."

"I know." Anna said soberly as she took hold of the mask and laid it on Helen's face. "But for now? Sleep." Helen's eyes held fear and sorrow in equal measure as they slowly closed. Anna waited until she was certain that Helen was unconscious before withdrawing her hand. The mask remained where it was, but she knew Helen would fight. All the best ones did. She turned to the other being in the room and bowed her head. "I thought we had no choice. I can make no other excuse for what we did."

"I am hardly the one to make judgments on such after all of the mistakes I have made." The white furred cat said calmly as she rose to step tot he table where the doctor's backpack lay. "Do you wish us to regrow her legs?"

"I..." Anna pursed her lips. "Doctor?"

"Yes, please, Isis." The mind inside the backpack said quietly. "She will have enough problems once the drugs wear off. The nanites will help, but she will need more. Lots more. If she chooses to come with us, we can and will buffer her until she acclimatizes. If not? She will need therapy and more."

"The mission comes first." The white cat said sadly as she jumped up onto the bed and a sheet slid up from the bottom of the bed to cover Helen's body up to her waist. "I will do what I can. Karen came through fine and she will be in the next room in a moment. Liriel is waiting."

"We should not keep her waiting. Thank you." Anna pulled the backpack up and slid it on. "Are you ready, doctor?"

"No." The other replied. "I most certainly am not. What do I _say_ , Major? Give me a broken body, human or other, I can fix that. This? I can't fix this."

"No." Anna said quietly. "We can't. All we can do is go on." She smiled as Isis rose and rubbed her head against the human's hand. "Take care of our sister, please?"

"You know I will." Isis promised as she sat back down and focused on the sheet that was oddly lumpy now. "Vsedga veren."

"Vsedga veren." The corporeal spetsnatz strode from the room to find two sentinels waiting for her. She nodded to them. One started off and she followed, the other taking up station behind her. The queen's hospitality extended only so far and she was not stupid enough to trust. She didn't bother trying to map the area she was being guided through. If she knew anything about Liriel, the queen would likely have the layout changed as soon as the spetsnatz left her domain. Add to that? Being rude to the queen might be hazardous to one's health.

The sentinels guided her into a small room where Horatius and the two former Grineer spetsnatz stood waiting patiently. Liriel sat on a table near one wall, her face as inscrutable as only a feline's could be. Anna nodded tot he queen as she took up station by the door.

"She will sleep. She needs it." Anna said heavily. "We needed her so I planned to use her. I can make no other excuse..." She broke off as Liriel shook her head.

 _I know very well about the costs of your mission_ _s_ _, Major._ Liriel said softly. _I know what you spetsnatz will do to achieve your missions. Your bodies, your souls, everything you are, you subsume for the mission._ She turned her head to the Corpus soldier. _Commander Horatius. What is said in here will not leave this place. Is that clear?_ Her tone was mild, but the threat was clear. He nodded.

"Karen knows what is going on." Horatius said slowly and everyone nodded. "Will she remember?"

 _I don't know._ Liriel said softly. _I have had my arguments with Tenno, but this predates all of those. I am going to call her now. I do not know if I can stay calm in her presence._

"No one blames you for that." Anna said quietly. "Isis told me what she did. There can be no forgiveness for such." Liriel shook her head again. "That said, if Tali _does_ come back then we have not seen bad yet." She gave herself a shake. "We are guests. We will abide by the rules of hospitality as long as we are not threatened."

 _She will be angry._ Liriel actually sighed as lavender energy soared from her to flow into a spot in the middle of the room..

"As are we all." The voice of the doctor came from the pack. Anna shook her head and he subsided but his mutter was not even close to his breath. "Stupid Tenno and their stupid ideas."

"No joke." Anna replied as the energy solidified into a dot that then grew into a large golden form. The female Tenno who stood there wore no warframe and she looked resigned as her bodysuit morphed into a yellow surgical gown and a kavat collar appeared around her neck.

"What do you want now?" The newly come energy form sounded defeated as she stared at Liriel. She didn't seem to see the others. "Haven't you hurt me enough, Liriel? This cannot be healthy for you."

 _No._ Liriel replied, ice old. _It is not. But hurting you does make me feel better, Trinity. Maybe in a few years, I will have worked out all of my rage. Until then? You come when I call and you do what I tell you. No more. No less._

"Yes." Trinity said very quietly. "Nyx said I had to do it. Hayden said I had to do it. Nikis said I had to do it. I will. What is your command?"

 _Stand here and be silent._ Liriel said with a growl that was pure lioness as she rose to her feet. _You do not remember. Nyx saw to that despite your memory backups. You_ **will** _remember. I am going to reset a backup.  
_

"Remember what?" Trinity did not flinch as Liriel strode up to her. The kavat's lavender code tore into her and she screamed. She fell to her knees as the lavender energy coalesced around her incorporeal skull.

"NO!" An utterly unexpected voice had everyone freezing in place as _Hayden Tenno_ appeared beside Trinity! " _Do not!_ " His Glaive was in one hand and a pistol in the other! Both were aimed at Liriel who glowed with energy and then armor coated her that looked sort of like a warframe.

 _You move, you die!_ Liriel snarled as several sentinels appeared around the room, taking aim at the interloper. _Did you really think it would be so easy to trespass in my domain, Tenno?_

"Don't tell her!" Hayden all but begged. "She didn't want to remember!"

"She does not have that _right!_ " Came from the backpack and Hayden froze, staring from Trinity to the pack and back.

"You..." Hayden said weakly. "I… No..." He begged his pistol falling to his side and his Glaive vanishing. " _Please!_ "

"This is _your_ mess too." The voice from the pack said firmly. " _You_ get to help clean it up."

"Don't be rude." Trinity said softly from where she knelt. "I? Hayden?" The look on her face when she looked at him was pure desolation. "What have we done?"

"It is not your fault, Trinity." Hayden said firmly. "It is _mine!_ Leave her out of this! Blame me for this! Not her!"

 _She is the only one who can_ **possibly** _fix this._ Liriel said coldly. _Or do you wish_ **more** _death and destruction to add to what has already occurred?_

"I earned your wrath, Liriel." Trinity said very quietly. "That and so much more. I... What can I do?" She begged.

The reply came from the _backpack_.

"You _might_ try talking to your _kids_ every so often, Grandma."


	14. Chapter 14

**Family reunions**

" _Grand-_ "

Horatius clamped his lips tightly shut as Trinity and Hayden Tenno faced Liriel. The Queen of Cats was not happy.

 _You_ _may not be alive anymore but you still_ _have a death wish, do you not, Hayden Tenno?_ The red and black kavat asked in a tone etched with acid. _Or do you think you are simply special enough to sneak in here and steal what is not yours because you threw it away?_

The now _nine_ sentinels aiming at Hayden Tenno were all quivering with the Queen's rage.

"He didn't." Trinity said weakly. "I did. I… I did that." She covered her face with her hand. "Oh my god! I did that! I… I begged Nyx to… _What have I done?_ " She screamed the last.

"You got what you wanted, Grandma!" The voice from the box snapped. "You Tenno got what you wanted. You left us all behind. Every last one of us. Well done." When he spoke again, it was to Liriel. "Your Majesty, do you know who I was?"

 _Your name_ _wa_ _s Colonel Samuel Churchill._ Liriel replied. _You were_ _Tali's second in command on her last mission._ _You were Trinity's great-great-great-grandson a_ _nd you earned nothing by your birthright._

"Nothing but a whole lot of pain." The other agreed. "Being related to a famous Tenno was no joke at all. Tali showed me a better way." When he spoke again, it was to Trinity. "Stop crying already, you silly Tenno. You buggered us all and now? You lot want to do it again." That was to Hayden who did not move. Wise. "Well, bugger you, ya daft fool. You cannot stop this."

"No." Hayden said slowly. "I can't. Not without the Glaive."

"And if you touch it, you go poof." The voice from the backpack said with a growl. "Part of me wants you to. But the _mission_ comes first. Personal vengeance for _idiocy_ comes a distant second." He paused and then spoke to Liriel. "I give apology, Your Majesty, but some things needed to be said."

 _I am not stopping you._ Liriel replied as she padded back to her perch and sat down! _I counted Tenno my family once._ _Can anyone hurt you worse than family?_

"Not in my experience." The other replied. "I do think that is why John shot the son of a bitch when he did. I might have done the same to other Tenno after I met Tali except she made me swear not to."

"I..." Trinity was fighting for control. "I… I am sorry. I..."

"You are sorry." The other said, incredulous. Then he screamed. "YOU ARE SORRY? HOW MANY PEOPLE DIED BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T BOTHER TO TELL TALI WHO AND WHAT SHE REALLY WAS?" He started to swear, but a cough from Liriel had him pausing. When he spoke again, it was calmer. "Apologies, Your Majesty."

 _I am honestly wondering if_ **anything** _I can do to her could hurt her worse than the knowledge of what she did._ Liriel said in a very mild, but biting tone. _Of what she threw away._

"I wasn't human." Trinity begged the room. Most of them ignored her. "I wasn't human! I couldn't _be_ human!"

 _So?_ Liriel snapped. _Am_ **I** _human? Do you see_ **me** _dropping off unwanted kits and pups because they are_ **inconvenient?**

"It wasn't like that!" Trinity did not quite scream that. "Our lives were over! It was only a question of how long until we died. They... _They_ had a chance!"

"You keep telling yourself that, grandma." The voice of her many times removed grandson might have made a lemon seem sweet. "The rest of us will try to fix this godforsaken mess. And as for you?" He said to Hayden. "Bugger off like you always _did_. You have no place here, Hayden Tenno."

"I have to fix this." Hayden said softly.

"You _can't!_ " The voice from the backpack snapped. "Your plan failed." At that, _everyone_ but Anna stilled. She just shook her head. "Here and now, I can say it. I _know_ who programmed that weapon. I _know_ who set it up as the ultimate mutually assured destruction. We did not. It was already there when we got there. Built into it from the very beginning. By _Tenno_."

Horatius was apparently the only one surprised by that. He fought for control and succeeded before exclaiming. He knew Liriel had seen his shock and likely the others too.

"It wasn't to be activated unless Orokin fell." Hayden said quietly. "That was the plan. They go far away, they hold the trigger."

"Small wonder so many people sent so many troops to try and get it, to break it, to kill everyone around it." Anna said with a growl of her own. "All we knew was that there were suddenly a whole bunch of armed people on the ship, killing the sleeping Tenno and shooting at us. Our orders were to protect them. We failed and I cannot help but now think that a _good_ thing."

"If they all died..." Hayden paled. "The weapon would activate."

"How many times must we tell you? It _did_ , ya tosser!" The colonel snarled at him and Hayden stilled. Trinity just shook her head, still crying. "The _only_ reason it didn't _fire_ was _Tali!_ Not that _either_ of you give a flying rat's ass about her _or_ Hadi. I am sure you think you can just walk in and turn a key and make it do whatever you want. Here is a hint, ya twit, it _won't_. She won't _let_ you"

"Insulting Hayden won't help." Trinity said quietly. "I am sorry, Samuel."

"Just shut up, already!" The voice from the box snarled. "Whatever feelings I might have had for you before that mission died with me. You Tenno are _imbeciles_. Murderous bloody fools, the lot of you! And they called _us_ heartless!"

"Yeah, they did." Trinity said softly. "I… I did. I am sorry."

"Bugger off, Grandma!" The colonel snapped. "The _adults_ have work to do and _you_ have no right to _anything_ from me. Not after what you did to Tali and Hadi. I was not a good man, but there were limits. You passed them."

"It is not her fault!" Hayden looked as if he wanted to move to Trinity's side but moving right now would not be a good idea. "She had no idea! _We_ had no idea!" He slumped a bit. "Nyx did good work. I only know because of a backup I hid as a contingency."

 _And the fact that you all forgot about the son and daughter that Trinity bore you makes i_ _t_ _all better._ Liriel said with a growl. _I do wonder if Talia knew._

"She did." A subdued voice heralded _Hadi_ appearing in a corner of the room. Anna gasped, but Liriel smiled and Anna relaxed. He was crying and had been for a while. "I… I didn't understand why you wanted me to hide here, Your Majesty." He pleaded as Trinity jerked to her feet. "Talia raised us. She was always so busy but she always had time for us. We looked for our parents so hard and one day, the Empress came to us. She told us. I… Told us that we could never say where we came from. That we had to pretend to be hers no matter how many people got mad at her." The pain on his face was terrible. "Or bad things would happen. They did _anyway_." He was crying and more than one person in the room had glistening eyes. "Why?" He begged Trinity. "Why did you abandon us?"

The hurt in his voice was a mountain and it was crumbling.

"It wasn't safe." Trinity said weakly. "The Citadel was infected with the Virus. We had no way to keep humans safe there.. You couldn't stay there. Anywhere else? If you were related to us, to me and Hayden… They would have come for you. Our enemies."

" _And_ it is highly traditional to drop unwanted bastard children off in orphanages." The voice of Trinity's grandson was still biting. " _Especially_ ones born of _drink_." To his credit, Hayden did not bother denying that.

"They had a chance at a life!" Trinity was angry now. "We did not! All we had was our duty! A duty that we all knew would mean death!"

" _ **WE WOULD HAVE SHARED IT! GLADLY!**_ " Hadi screamed shrilly enough that Liriel's ears flattened. "I…"

 _Be calm, young Hadi._ Liriel rose to her feet and moved to stand by the insubstantial boy who reached down with a hesitant hand to touch her fur. He smiled as she pushed her head up into his hand, a hand that was somehow solid enough to pet her. _We cannot change the past. No one is denying your grief or your rage, but we have other problems now_. _Your sister is coming back and the Tenno will not stop her._

"We cannot kill her." Hayden said slowly. "As connected as she apparently is, killing her would simply free the AI to do its last directive."

"Damn Tenno. Always with the killing. There are other options, you know? Even for people like us crazy murdering special forces. No one said _anything_ about killing her, you fool!" The colonel snapped. "And pulling her out is just as bad. Yes, yes..." He sighed as Hayden started to protest. "You want to pull her out, figure out how she did it and then _use the weapon_. Tenno nobility at its _best!_ _Killing shit!_ We _get it_." The sarcasm in his words could have cut steel. " _You_ won't!"

"We can't." Trinity said softly and everyone looked at her. "Her energy is entwined, isn't it?" Hadi and Anna both nodded and Trinity bowed her head. "Then we can't, Hayden."

"We have to get her out, Trinity!" Hayden pleaded. "We can destroy-" He broke off as Trinity surged to her feet.

"Hayden." Trinity said with dreadful force. "We cannot do that. The AI that was built into that ship was unique. You know I helped them build it." Hayden nodded, clearly mystified. "If she entwined with it, then she is _part_ of it. Pulling her out will kill her just as surely as any weapon would." She looked at Anna. "I assume you have a plan?"

"Trinity!" Hayden protested, but Trinity ignored him.

"Parts of one." Anna admitted. "I have been focused on stopping the beacons, slowing its return. Trying to buy time. But then Hadi woke up." Hadi quailed but Anna smiled. "It is not your fault, Hadi. None of this was."

"No." Trinity slowly straightened and then nodded to Hadi. "It is not your fault, Hadi. It is mine. Mine and Hayden's. I cannot touch you, can I?" She pleaded. Hadi shook his head. "Damn."

"My energy is entwined too. I would pull you in, ensnare you just like I ensnared Karen. I didn't mean to! I wasn't awake!" Hadi said very softly. "I am part of Tali even now. I can feel her pain even now. It is dulled, from the sheer distance, but it is there. That is what woke me."

"And Karen wanted to help so she picked up the Glaive." Trinity sighed deeply. "So now, she is entwined too?" Hadi nodded, face to the floor. "It is not your fault, Hadi. None of this is."

"Tali told me to run. To stay with Anna." Hadi pleaded as Trinity put her hands to her face. "But I couldn't stay awake! Then Anna screamed as that awful Tenno in black hurt her and I couldn't- I couldn't _do anything!_ "

"You can't, no." Trinity said very quietly. "I can." Hadi stared at her, eyes huge. Trinity dropped her hands and turned to Liriel who was eyeing her. "You know." It was not a question.

 _I remember our discussions of AI theory._ Liriel replied calmly. _Of how a practical AI was virtually impossible without Tenno energy. The Orokin found ways to cheat that as they always did, but the ones who built that ship were not Orokin, were they?_

"No." Trinity replied. "They were not and every Tenno death on that hellhole of a ship likely added to the AI's power." She bowed her head. "Two hundred Tenno. Damn. If we-" She paused and stared off into space, her entire posture one of thought. Only for a moment and then she looked at Liriel who was eyeing her. "Liriel? What about this?" She started speaking fast and in language that no one present clearly understood. Liriel stiffened. Then the Queen of Cats shook her head.

 _Trinity,_ _you say_ _there were two hundred Tenno on that ship. None of them_ _likely_ _matched you or Hayden for power, but two_ **hundred!** The feline said with a snort. _You cannot think to try that. Even you have limits. What is more? If_ **your** _power entwines, I bet it wouldn't do good things for Tali or the AI. No. It likely wouldn't work.  
_

"It was just a thought." Trinity said softly. Everyone was staring at her as she shook her head. "I helped build it. I have the failsafe codes. I can stop the AI, but doing so will kill Hadi and Tali." She slumped. "I don't want to."

"Life doesn't care what we _want_ , Grandma!" The voice of her grandson said with a snort. "Any more than you oh so _noble_ and _pure_ Tenno do."

"I have never claimed to be noble or pure, Samuel." Trinity said sadly. "Just the mistakes I remembered were bad enough. This… This is worse." The glare she turned on Hayden could have melted steel. "How long have you known?"

"Trinity..." Hayden tried, but she was having none of it.

"How? Long?" Trinity growled and the echo of power as she took a step toward Hayden rocked the very walls. "I… Wait. I _remember_. You kept me _away_. You kept me _busy_ while you 'dealt' with Anna. I wanted to see if I could help the poor woman and _you sent me away!_ " She snapped as realization dawned. "You knew _then!_ "

"It is my burden, Trinity, not yours." Hayden said and then everyone jerked as she slapped him. Somehow she was physical enough in her rage to _physically_ hit his flesh form. The sound echoed in the sudden stillness.

"Liar. I bet you goaded Nikis just enough to fan his rage, didn't you? Got him to silence the _one_ witness! You son of a-" She slapped him _again_ , backhand. "What I demanded of Nyx was _wrong_. That is on me as is what the AI I helped build did to Hadi and Tali." Trinity said softly. "But _this?_ " She shook her head and looked at Liriel. "Get him out of here. Now." Liriel just looked at her and Trinity did not move. "If you don't? I am going to tear him out of his flesh form here and now. You know how messy that gets. You hate me and I _earned_ it, but I can fix _some_ of this." Golden power flared around her hand as she raised it to slap him again!

 _Don't make a mess in my territory, Tenno or I will have you clean it up with a toothbrush or your tongue._ Liriel warned.

"Then get him out of here before he says something even more unforgivable!" Trinity snarled.

"Trinity!" Hayden begged, then doubled over with an 'oof' as she kicked him in the _crotch!_ Horatius _and_ Hadi both winced at the sick splat sound. How hard had she kicked him?

"You need raw materials." Trinity said flatly as golden code flew from her and a short scream sounded from Hayden. The body fell over as Hayden's shade appeared standing over it, his face shocked. "Here are some." Liriel just looked at her. Trinity shrugged and her expression could only be described as 'vicious'. "Waste not, want not."

 _You know trust will never happen._ Liriel warned as Hayden's shade vanished and then the body was wafted out on barely visible tendrils of lavender power. _I will have it incinerated_.

"Please do. He does love his traps." Trinity replied, her tone wooden. "I thought his lies were to protect us. I am still naive it seems." She gave herself a shake. "I cannot fix what was done. I thought that if I distanced myself, it would be better for everyone. I… I am sorry, Hadi." She pleaded. "Not remembering is no excuse. When she came to us, Tali never said anything to me. She must have been sworn to silence." She slumped. "I deserve any hate you have. Nyx argued for some time, but in the end, I convinced her despite her misgivings that it was safer for you somewhere else. That is the honest truth. It was. And if I had remembered? If _we_ had? I would have tried to help. The others probably as well. To find you. To interfere with your lives. I had no right to do that and I knew I would. I would have likely made a mess." She hung her head. "Maybe not a bad as this, but a mess."

"Can you stop Tali... Mom?" Hadi asked in a very quiet voice.

"I can." Trinity promised."But I have to be on the ship to do it." Liriel just looked at her and Trinity sighed. "Liriel, you know such works. The codes do not work via comlink. And… Maybe I can do something?" She pleaded. "Anything."

 _You are asking for trust._ Liriel warned.

"No, I am not." Trinity disagreed calmly. "Major Keras. Spetsnatz had access to all kinds of nasty stuff. Do you have a soul catcher?"

No one moved or spoke as Horatius felt his guts turn to ice. Orokin soul catchers caught and held energy forms. Not always gently. Was she _really_ -? Anna looked at Liriel who gave a feline shrug.

"Spetsnatz soul catchers were designed to capture hostile energy forms in extremely adverse conditions." Anna said slowly, not confirming nor denying. "They were not gentle."

"Probably about as gentle as Nikis was when he tore Hadi from you." Trinity said with a wince. "I can feel what you are going through. I want to help you and I can't. I know that. You wouldn't let me even if I could." Anna shook her head. "I have the shutdown codes, but they need to be used on the ship. In the AI core." She slowly sank to her knees. "Hadi?" She smiled at the boy made of energy who stared at her, tears still falling. "For what is worth? You make me proud." He opened his mouth as Trinity turned back to Anna who had a small golden object in her hand. "Do it!"

The _only_ good thing about Orokin soul catchers was that they were quick. Trinity's agonized scream faded swiftly with her energy and Hadi hid his face in his hands as Anna checked the device. Hadi's muted sobs were the only sound in the room as Anna put the device in a pocket.

"Helen and Karen will both be needed. Karen because Hadi is bound to her." Anna said softly as Hadi cried. Liriel rose and moved to the energy boy, twining around his ankles. "I want Helen to go with you, Commander. I _do_. She deserves some chance at happiness, not to be dragged into our darkness. But she is needed. We need her tech expertise."

"Her or any tech?" Horatius asked quietly. Anna looked at him and he shook his head. "This is the kind of job we get. Nasty. Dirty. Probably one way." He smiled a little. "Sounds like fun."

"You are crazy enough to be spetsnatz, Commander." Anna smiled back, but it was melancholy. "We have time to plan. With your permission, Your Majesty?"

 _You know what she will want to do. She will try to stop it without harming Tali or Hadi, probably using her own life energy if the codes don't work._ Liriel warned. Anna nodded. _If you choose to let her do that, I… I do hate her, but if she chooses that, tell her 'all debts are paid'._

"What?" Hadi asked and no one would meet his eyes. "What are you talking about?" He stared at Liriel who was still twining his ankles. "You… Your Majesty?" His voice squeaked as she jumped up. He caught her and held her as she started to purr, her cheek nuzzling his, comforting him as only a feline could.

"You mother wants to save you and your sister." Anna said heavily. "I don't think it can be done." Then she snorted. "Then again, things that others think cannot be done are what we spetsnatz do _best_."

"But... Tali is gone. Her energy was pulled into the AI." Hadi said weakly. "And if I go back? I am going to follow her. Die."

"Maybe." Anna looked at Horatius and her eyes held something. A dreadful promise. She would not let Hadi die if there was any chance at all no matter _who_ she had to kill to do it. "What could you offer us, Commander?"

Horatius nodded to her as his mind whirled. Tenno, Grineer, Corpus, the Queen of Cats… And a possibly mad AI with a superweapon. All in a day's work.

"I think I can get transport and some more tech support. People who won't talk." Horatius mused. "A quick, quiet ship. But it wouldn't be large or palatial. We would need far more personnel as well if the AI is hostile." He shuddered in memory of another battle with an insane Orokin era AI. Of the sacrifice of a very brave clone girl that he had named SUsan.

"We are spetsnatz, we don't _need_ comfort." Anna replied with a smirk. "Just get us there. I can get us some pretty hefty backup once we have a landing zone."

"Don't say I didn't warn you."


	15. Chapter 15

**Soldiers and sailors**

"You want me to do _what?_ "

The beach was not actually crowded. It just felt that way with four spetsnatz, Horatius and Liriel standing at the treeline looking at the man who had just climbed down from the sleek black aerospace fighter craft. He did not move from the base of the ladder that had allowed him to exit it. There were no sentinels visible. The man was not armed nor was he happy.

"We need a ride, Mitchell." Horatius said quietly. "We need to get to a specific place in space quickly and quietly. You and Nightnova can do both."

"Nightnova is not a bus." The pilot retorted as he looked at Liriel. "Your message to Jasmina said it was urgent that you talk to me, Your Majesty, so I came but I will obey any and all instructions. Your territory is your own and I will not trespass." He bowed to the Kavat and she nodded. His eyes lingered on the two former Grineer, but he did not comment on them. Instead he looked at Helen and Karen both of whom looked fairly rocky. He sighed. "I don't know what is going on and I think I am glad of that."

"Be very glad." Horatius shuddered for dramatic effect and Mitchell's eyes narrowed. "Black ops are never clean."

"Don't need to tell me that." Mitchell retorted, still not relaxing. He eyed Karen again and shook his head. "Rachel is likely to want to have my head, but the Queen's message said not to talk to anyone, so I didn't. You okay, Karen?"

"No." Karen said softly, her face pale. Helen was helping the Tenno Marine stand. She was healed, but weak and would be for some time. Helen, for her part, was almost bouncing with energy after having parts of her body literally regrown overnight. The Queen of Cats and her people did not slouch around. "The docs want me to stay in bed, but the mission comes first."

"Does it now?" Mitchell turned to the trio of other spetsnatz and frowned a little. He looked at Horatius. "And what do Grineer have to do with this?"

Barely controlled hate sounded in his tone, but he _did_ control it.

"I would like you to meet someone, Major Keras." Horatius said quietly. Mitchell stiffened as Anna nodded. "Major Kristiana Keras, Orokin Marine Corps? Meet Mitchell, formerly _Lieutenant_ Mitchell, Diamondback Sixteen off the Kirov." Both humans stilled as they stared at each other.

"Keras..." Mitchell said in a very quiet voice. "I know that name."

"Diamondback?" For her part, the Major looked stunned. "Wait… The _Kirov?_ " She demanded. Horatius nodded and Mitchell jerked, staring at her as she _saluted him!_ The two former Grineer did as well! Mitchell returned it, looking a bit bemused. "How?" Anna asked, as he dropped his salute and the trio of spetsnatz did the same.

"That is a long story." Horatius smiled at Mitchell's stunned expression. "We do not have time for it which is sad. It is a good story."

"Almost as good as the one that has a pair of Grineer in a uniform I _certainly_ did not expect saluting me." Mitchell said softly.

All the spetsnatz wore fatigues that were certainly not Grineer armor, if even more protective than huge plates of ferrite would be. No one outside of a very select group would know that they had once been the common duty attire of the Orokin military. Fewer would know what the insignia on it would mean. Mitchell clearly did and he was not happy about it.

"With your permission, Major?" The Lancer said with a frown. Anna nodded. "Pilot Mitchell, we are not Grineer now. Grineer follow the Queens. We follow the Major." Nina Tal nodded.

"Vsedga veren." Mitchell's words were half statement, half question and all four of the spetsnatz nodded. The pilot slowly shook his head. "Spetsnatz. Oh boy."

"You worked with spetsnatz?" Anna inquired.

"A couple of times. No offense, Major, but you lot are scary as hell." Mitchell was so still it looked painful. "I know about the mission coming first, but holy frak!"

"Watch the language, lieutenant. We are all guests here and I bet some of the kids are watching even though the Queen told them not to." Major Keras said with a small frown. Mitchell stared at her and then smiled a little.

"I got promoted but that is not germane now." The pilot gave himself a shake. "I thought I was ready for just about anything. Not this. We maintained com silence as the Queen asked, but we have been listening to chatter." He slowly shook his head. "This has to do with the matter that has so angered Rachel, doesn't it?"

Everyone, even Liriel, winced at that. One did not casually irritate the First unless one had a death wish or no choice. They hadn't really had a choice.

"I do not know what she intends." Karen said weakly. "She tried to capture me. I think to tear energy from mine as was done to the Major a long time ago. I hope she would have been _slightly_ less violent about it than Nikis was with the Major, but..." She broke off as Mitchell stared at her. "I know it would hurt and I cannot allow the one I bear to come to harm."

"The one… you _bear…_?" Mitchell said very slowly.

"I..." Karen nodded. "There is a lot I cannot say. Some is classified. Some is just so wrong that you do _not_ want to know."

"Story of my life." Mitchell sighed and then shook his head. "NightNova is not a passenger transport, Commander."

"You got Cass home." Horatius said softly. "He made it."

"He did?" Mitchell asked, his face softening for a moment. "I am glad." He took a deep breath and then blew it out. His entire demeanor changed form worried to professional. "There is no way we could carry everyone here. We simply do not have the space even as tightly as I have seen spetsnatz cram into a cargo hold." He nodded to Anna who returned it. "And here, once I thought _clown cars_ had lots of guys in them. They have _nothing_ on an assault team of spetsnatz sneaking into a place they are not supposed to be."

"Part of the job." Anna shrugged. "Can you carry two?" Mitchell looked a question at her and Anna nodded. "I have to coordinate with other forces. The Commander has promised that we can get a transport that is not quite as fast or as sneaky as your bird." She smiled approvingly at the dark sleek form of NightNova. Said smile fell. "Karen and Helen are both walking wounded."

"I see." Mitchell looked at Karen who frowned. "I cannot hide what I am doing from my bosses." He warned. "Do you know who I serve now?"

"I was not briefed on that." Anna glared at Horatius who shrugged.

"He knows how to keep his mouth shut." Horatius reassured the others.

"I am not going to lie to Jasmina, Commander." Mitchell said sternly. "I like my health and what is worse? She would likely get Anne in on whatever she did and those two are scary when they get angry. Not quite as scary as spetsnatz but close. Add to that? The last thing _any_ of us want to do is anger the Queen of Cats." Liriel smirked as the others all looked at her.

"You are running dark." Horatius replied. "They won't contact you until or unless you come up, right?"

"Or they have reason to believe I am involved in something they want to know about." Mitchell said grimly. "And considering how mad Rachel is right now? No one is going to say 'No' if she demands information." He shuddered. "No one. And certainly not _me_."

"Mitchell, there is a mostly wrecked ancient ship on its way back into the system." Horatius was very careful in what he said. "We do not know what condition it is in. We do not know how much of it is intact. All that we do know is there is a weapon built into it that scares _everyone_. Grineer, Corpus, Tenno, Orokin. Everyone."

"Yeah, right." Mitchell scoffed. "The only thing that could possibly scare _all_ of them would be if the _Artemis_ showed... up…" He trailed of as everyone nodded. His eyes went huge. "Oh shit."

"Language." The Major frowned.

"With all due respect, Major Keras..." Mitchell said very slowly. "The Artemis was a _boogeyman_. A dreadful _legend_. A Tenno ghost ship on par with the Zarimon. A literal Flying Dutchman with the firepower to level worlds. A horror that a brave soldier sacrificed herself to stop." Everyone nodded again. "It is… Oh dear."

"It gets worse." The major replied and Mitchell all but shivered.

"I don't want to know, do I?" Mitchell asked, face ashen. Then he paused and held up a hand. When he spoke again, it wasn't to anyone present. "No, no, I am all right, Honey. Just finding out some stuff that is on the scary side." He said to no one. "Yes, I know you are worried about me. I worry about you and the kids. Anne..." He made a face. "Anna, I have work to..." He broke off and slumped. "Anne..." He tried again. "Anne… _A_ _nne!_ " He all but shouted that. "Calm down. I know you are stressed. Everyone is stressed. The kids need you. You need rest. Go back to sleep, honey. Let Healer do what it needs to do. You knew it was going to take time." He smiled a bit tenderly. "Oh, don't start that again! I don't _care_ how many arms you have and you _know_ it. Go back to sleep, honey? Please? Yes. I love you too. Give the kids a kiss for me. I will be back when I can. Yeah. Diamondbacks forever."

Everyone stared as Mitchell slowly sat on the sand, his face desolate.

"How badly is she hurt?" The Major asked.

"Badly enough that she is on full life support and will be for the foreseeable future until they can regrow several internal organs. There were complications." Mitchel said in a monotone. "She is alive. I keep telling myself that. I have to. I… I apologize."

 _For what?_ Liriel demanded as she stalked forward to nuzzle Mitchell's hand. _For loving your mate?_

"She needs more reassurance than the others can give sometimes." Mitchell said heavily. "Our link is tighter than usual. She felt my fear. It woke her. I think she is asleep again. I hope so. She needs it. I can't... I can't watch her lie there." He slumped. "I am such a wimp."

"Fighting enemies is easy." Major Keras said with a shrug as he looked at her. "All you have to worry about with enemies is dying and you can fight back. Watching a loved one fade?" She shook her head. "That is a lot harder." She was speaking from experience.

"They caught it in time." Mitchell smiled forlornly as Liriel nuzzled him again. He laid a hand on her head and she moved underneath it. He started to pet her and they both relaxed a little. "She will recover. It will just take time. No one had any idea how bad it was until they got her back home. None. We nearly lost her several times despite everything." He gave himself a shake, gave Liriel one final pet and then rose. "The Artemis. Damn. The stories are true?" He asked the crowd who all nodded again. "So, I assume the Tenno want to save the one who sacrificed herself to keep the ship from killing everyone?"

"That is our assumption." Horatius shrugged. "But you know about assumptions."

"Yeah." Mitchell said sourly. "There were a lot of stories told over coffee in the mess halls about the Artemis, most highly fanciful." He scoffed. "One of our people dressed up as an Artemis crewmember of Halloween one year and the Captain was _not_ amused. Some of us thought she would have that poor girl keel hauled."

"The Artemis didn't have any crew." Anna said quietly Mitchell turned to stare at her and she shrugged. "It didn't need any."

"That was not second hand experience talking. You were there." Mitchell said very slowly and Anna nodded. "And..." He pressed.

"And the Tenno cannot stop the ship." Anna said softly. "Any of them who board it will likely be subsumed as Tali was." Mitchell stared at her as she shuddered. Anything that could _scare_ a _spetsnatz_ needed to be watched carefully. "We may or may not have the codes to shut the ship down. If so? As soon as it does, it will start to fall apart. If not?" She paused as Mitchell scoffed.

"If not, you have _demo_." Anna stared at the pilot and Mitchell shook his head."I could tell you some stories about spetsnatz in the Separatist conflict I was part of. They made a hell of a mess on occasion."

"It is the job." Anna was casual, but he could tell she was pleased by that. Crazy spec ops types were all the same. Crazy.

"Yeah, its the job." Mitchell paused as he looked at Karen who met his eyes. "Wait! If _Tenno_ cannot board the ship..." He broke off but Karen waved a hand.

"They know, Mitchell. It is not really a secret now." Karen said heavily. She was paler, and Helen pulled a scanner out to sweep over her. "I am okay." She pleaded but Helen was having none of it.

"No, you are not." Helen replied. "These readings are all messed up. We need you functional. So do as we say or I will sedate you, clear?"

"Yes, mother." Karen recoiled as Helen slapped her lightly. "Hey!"

"Don't make me spank you." Helen said sourly and more than one person laughed at Karen's expression. "You are the key to getting us aboard. She won't fire on you."

"We hope." Karen said sourly.

"I think I need to know more." Mitchell said very softly. Horatius and Anna both shook their heads and Mitchell glowered at them. "If I am flying into a free fire zone, I would like to know before I do."

"If Karen is aboard your ship, it won't be a free fire zone for you." Anna said softly. " _We_ will likely get shot at. _You_ won't."

"And you won't say why." Mitchell said softly.

"It is not a question of trust, Mitchell." Karen pleaded. "You really do not want to know. I... I likely won't remember any of this, after." Mitchell nodded, not surprised and Karen eyed him. "You know?"

"I dd my share of carrying Black Ops to their work during the war. I flew anything that was needed. We didn't have enough pilots all the time. I flew transports, gunships, medevacs." Mitchell replied. "I met a couple of the ones I had carried later and neither knew me. It wasn't them pretending. They literally didn't know me even though one had bled all over my cockpit." He blew out a deep breath. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out that whatever they did wasn't anything that they were allowed to remember. I only knew a little and that little was bad enough that I won't ever talk about it even now."

"Good. Secrets are secret for a reason." Anna replied with a snap and Mitchell nodded to her. "We need Karen and Helen on that ship, quick and quiet. I was told you and your partner are the best at such."

"We are." Mitchell's words had no bravado. No arrogance. Simple fact. "You are asking us to fly to a ghost ship that is heavily armed. There is no guarantee it will let us leave afterwards even if it will let Karen board."

"She wants to be stopped, Mitchell." Karen said sadly. "She really and truly wants to be stopped."

"General Tali?" Mitchell asked Anna who nodded. "I see. You were there?"

"I was." Anna agreed.

"And do you think she wants to be stopped?" Mitchell asked, his entire being focused on the woman in front of him.

"I know she does." Anna replied. "She stopped the weapon from firing the only way she could, but it tore her apart to do it. Literally." Mitchell winced and Anna nodded. "Only two of us made it back to warn everyone about it. No one bothered to listen. I was hurt very badly in the course of being interrogated and took a long time to recover. No one would listen to me. I knew the ship would find its way back eventually. The ship was built to return home if the passengers perished and they _did_. I could not abandon my mission. During the Collapse, I found a cryo facility and used it. I was woken from cryo a year ago by the Grineer Queens. They knew me."

"I _so_ do _not_ want to know how they knew you." Mitchell said savagely and Anna nodded.

"No, you don't." Anna agreed. "Orders are orders and the mission comes first. That said, I am human. I make mistakes. I do know what regret is. Even the first spetsnatz, the special forces who joined the fledgling Orokin Marine Corps, they knew what regret was. We are human. We go on, but we do remember."

"You act more human than many Corpus executives." Horatius said softly. Mitchell looked at him and the Commander shrugged. "No one has a monopoly on evil, Mitchell."

"No." The pilot agreed, clearly against his will. He looked Anna full in the face. "Is it true that a spetsnatz shot Hayden Tenno?"

"Yes and no." Anna replied, meeting his gaze. "No one knew why. Technically, he was a Royal Marine Commando who had joined the Orokin Marine Corps as a special forces soldier. The Marines didn't have a dedicated special forces section at the time, just ad hoc groups thrown together at need. The spetsnatz as you know us didn't exist until much later. There were Russian special forces who joined the Orokin marines, but none of them were involved in that. Tali was the first to call us 'spetsnatz' and the name stuck." She smiled a bit sadly. "She was a bit stubborn, our General."

"'Was'?" Mitchell asked gently.

"She screamed and vanished." Anna said with a wince. "Her last command to me was to take her brother and run. I did."

"Her brother." Mitchell said softly and then stilled as Karen drew her Glaive. Hadi appeared beside her, face pale. "Oh."

"She won't shoot at me and I have to help her if I can." Hadi pleaded. "Or if not? We have to stop her."

" _She_ might not." Mitchell said softly. "If this _is_ a spetsnatz op, then I bet _lots_ of other people will."

"Ya _think?_ " More than more person snarked at him and he sighed, then looked at the ship.

"The Tenno won't be happy." Mitchell said with a wince. Anna nodded. "Who else?"

"The Harkonar clan of Grineer think they can salvage the ship, use its tech for their own." Anna said grimly. "The Queen think they are planning a coup. They don't _need_ proof, but they would like some if we can find any."

"This just gets better and better." Mitchell said with sigh. "So… Where to?" He asked, waving hand at the ship. "Karen can ride in the cockpit. We have some medical support there. I assume you spetsnatz have vacuum rated armor?" He paused as Helen's fatigues morphed into a heavy armored suit. "Never mind." He groaned as everyone smiled at him. "Silly question."

"Yes, it was. There is one homing beacon left that I know of." Anna said with a frown as Helen and Karen started for the ship. "Getting to it will be less than fun."

"Do I want to know?" Mitchell inquired as he helped Karen start up the ladder. A hatch opened on the underside do the ship and Helen looked at it and then Mitchell who nodded. "Not saying 'No' mind you, but… Some places are easier to sneak into than others."

"This is not going to be easy at all." Anna replied. "Good news is that you won't be alone going in and there will be a _lot_ of people working to keep attention from you."

"And the _bad_ news?" Mitchell asked as he gave Helen a boost into the empty missile pod.

"What do you know about _Eris_ these days?" Anna inquired. Mitchell froze with Helen halfway into the pod. "Yes."

"Oh-" Mitchell swallowed whatever he was going to say as Liriel growled. "Um… I hope you have lots of support on standby." Anna's return smile was cold.

"We do."


	16. Chapter 16

**Loud and not**

"Holy s- sugar."

Karen snickered from the backseat as Mitchell corrected himself quickly.

"You don't need to worry about insulting _me_ , Mitchell." Karen had a grin in her voice as the mismatched pair watched the heavens light up through the canopy. Not many saw such things and lived to talk about it. "Yeah. 'Holy shit' just about covers it."

"No joke." Helen's subdued voice came from the missile pod. Mitchell had carried passengers enough to set up dedicated sensor repeaters in that pod. He didn't _enjoy_ it, he much preferred only to have to put himself and Nightnova in harm's way, but it happened. A lot of people who were not Tenno needed to go places and Mitchell was at loose ends while Anna was recovering.

"This one is very glad to be out of the line of fire for once." Nightnova sounded subdued too and no one bothered to reply as they all watched the battle. That was simple truth.

Grineer were what they were. The clones had been created by the Orokin as cheap labor. After all, breeding humans, teaching them what they needed to know and how to do jobs right could take a lifetime. It had been so much easier of the golden skinned overlords to make their own workers. Also, unlike the pesky humans with their mealy mouthed 'ethics' and 'laws', if one, two or a _thousand_ of the clones got hurt or died? Who cared? Make more. Simple.

Things had gotten far less simple with the advent of the Sentients, but some things remained the same to this day. Grineer could be sneaky. They could be cunning. These were not their strengths. What the Grineer had that no one in the entire solar did was sheer uncountable _numbers_. Infested might form from biomass just about anywhere, and they might become numerous given enough time, but even then, unless they were left on their own for a long period of time, they didn't grow massive. The regular Infested forms could be taken down in a fairly straightforward manner. Shoot them enough and they died. Then burn the corpses and the hives. Simple.

When Infested had their hives in _space_ …? Not so simple. Unless one had _a really big hammer_.

Mitchell swallowed hard as the humongous red beam from the Balor Fomorian lanced out again and an entire small wrecked Corpus ship that housed who knew how many Infested forms simply vaporized. The _nine_ Galleons that escorted it were firing their weapons as well, clearing the way of anything in the way, Infested hives, wrecks, or whatever else got in the way in typical Grineer fashion. Sheer brute force.

"You okay, Mitchell?" Karen asked from the back seat. She didn't sound worried, more sad.

"Not really." Mitchell heaved a sigh. "We took a hit from one of those at Neptune. A bad hit, almost died. For a while I thought I had lost Nightnova."

"You didn't." Nightnova replied, the machine's voice oddly kind. "And with the help of many, we recovered from our injuries and the sickness we were inflicted with."

"Yes." Mitchell smiled a little. "That counts as a win." He paused as an icon lit up on his HUD. The Major wanted to talk. "Major?" He asked after he keyed the com live.

He did check to make sure the signal was bouncing merrily around the space nearby. Maybe the Grineer _were_ on his side today, but he hadn't lived as long as he had by trusting enemies to do as they promised. And certainly not _Grineer._

"We are coming up on the beacon site." Major Keras sounded relaxed, but that had to be act. "The big asteroid at point three seven is where it was concealed. Sensors are reading all kinds of funky stuff." She warned. "There are large Infested masses that can fly in space, yes?"

"Yes, and we have been keeping an eye out." Mitchell reassured her. "The only good thing about the Jordas Golem is that it is not easy to hide something that size. The bad? Nothing can stop it form reforming. I am betting it was originally intended to fight space borne Sentients."

"I don't remember any weaponized masses called Jordas." Major Keras said calmly and Mitchell stiffened. It was hard to remember that she had _been there_. She would know, wouldn't she?

"Um..." Mitchell swallowed hard and Karen spoke up.

"It wasn't a mass at the time." Karen replied. "It took over the ship it as on and became space borne. It grew and subsumed other ships that it caught. Tenno have fought it repeatedly, but it keeps reforming."

"Ouch." The Major sighed. "We cannot detect you. Please tell me you are nowhere near the battle."

"Close enough to watch." Mitchell replied, noncommittal. "Far enough away to evade."

"You are carrying our specialists." The Major said flatly. "Without them, the mission cannot succeed. So please don't get killed?"

"Wasn't planning on it." Mitchell swore as a large group of space borne Infested flew right by Nightnova, but this time, none of them bounced off the hull. They couldn't detect the stealthed ship either. "This space is getting crowded. Infested will flock to the fighting to try and infect any they can touch. Sooner or later, Jordas has to notice this and when it does? It will try to subsume the Fomorian."

Just the _thought_ of an Infested _Fomorian_ would turn any number of people in the system pale. Human, Tenno, Corpus _and_ Grineer alike.

"If the big one shows, their orders are to retreat if they cannot harm it." The Major reassured him. "Grineer may consider the clones aboard to be inconsequential since they can be replaced so fast, but the resources that go into building such a thing? That is different. The Queens gave the order. They won't quibble."

"I really don't need to know more." Mitchell warned quickly and the Major chuckled a bit darkly.

"Welcome to _our_ world, Pilot." The spetsnatz commander had a grim smile in her voice now. "Sanity is _overrated_."

"Speak for yourself." Mitchell said with a grin that matched her non-visible one. "I am perfectly sane! It is the rest of the universe that is nuts. Especially right now." That actually got a chuckle from the Major.

"Touche, pilot." The Major replied and then sobered. "We are clearing the beacon area now. As soon as we do, I need you to land Helen so she can set it off."

"You can't?" Mitchell asked slowly.

"You are not cleared for that." The Major replied and Mitchell slowly nodded. Spetsnatz did secrets like nobody else in Mitchell's experience but Tenno.

"Roger that. Awaiting orders..." Mitchell paused as his sensors readings changed. "Major! I am detecting another ship. Another Grineer vessel is approaching, but it is not reading as a Galleon." He mused. "I haven't seen that design."

"What?" The Major snapped. "Where?"

"From the Formorian's bow, five o'clock and down thirty degrees." Mitchell said softly. "That is not a warship." He said softly. "It isn't reading as heavily armed as the Galleons are. And I-"

Whatever else he was going to say was cut off by blinding pain that scoured through his brain. Dimly through his scream of pain, he heard Nightnova scream as well before he passed out.

* * *

The Fomorian.

"What do those fools think they are _doing?_ " Sargas Ruk demanded of his bridge crew as Major Keras watched the plot, fuming. "They disabled the stealth ship! How did they _detect_ it? We could not. Galleons Four and Seven! Reorient! Keep them from leaving!"

He was not happy about that. Having a non-Grineer unknown in his battle zone was not a happy thing for the Grineer General. The Major and her people were bad enough, but they were a known quantity if undesired. That black stealth ship was known as an enemy, but the major had reassured him that the pilot didn't want the Artemis to show up and start shooting any more than anyone _else_ did.

Well, anyone but _Harkonar._

"They disabled it and are pulling it in." Major Keras said with a growl. "We cannot let them take it. The pilot may very well be an enemy, but he is carrying our specialists. Without them, we cannot do the mission." She looked a question at the General and he shook his head.

"The Queens want me to at least try to play nice with the fools since they are so influential." Ruk said with a growl of annoyance. "So… No immediate boarding. Com! Get me that ship's commander. Now." He shook his head at the Major. "I figured they would do _som_ _e_ _thing_. I have a battalion of Nightwatch waiting to talk to them." "Talk' as in 'shoot big holes in them and not bother asking questions afterwards'.

"If they tampered with _our_ implants, then no Grineer is safe. Not even you." Keras said very quietly to the General who nodded once. "My people are getting ready to extract the specialists if we need to." Ruk eyed her with his sole visible eye and she shrugged. "It is what we do, handle the unexpected."

"Unexpected? Not really. We _should_ have expected this. Brainy some of them may be, but they are still Grineer. Still stubborn and on the dense side." Ruk replied then snapped the com tech. "Com! Where is the Harkonar commander." He demanded.

"No response from the ship, sir." The com tech replied. Ruk growled again and then spun to the holographic display.

"Okay. I tried it the Queens' way." The General did not bother to hide his disdain for such. "Now we do it _my_ way. Nightwatch to the cannons! Arm boarding shells. Target the new vessel. Orders are to take the ship as intact as possible." Keras fought a wince. That left a _large_ margin for destruction.

"They have to have planned for that, General." Major Keras said softly. "Your people will walk into a trap."

"We are Grineer." Ruk replied, dismissive. "Traps do not bother us."

"They bother me when I have specialists in harm's way." Keras said firmly and Ruk turned to face her at her calm, but un-giving words. "Hold the boarders. Let me see what I can find out." That was not a suggestion. Ruk looked at her and she shook her head. "You will get your fill of blood, general, but _after_ my specialists are safe." Again, not a suggestion.

"What can you do from here?" Ruk demanded.

"Do you really want to know?" Keras asked as she shut her eyes. She did not miss the very quiet 'no' that came from the hulking Grineer. Even _he_ knew when not to push. The Grineer had learned early on that while Anna might _look_ thin and small compared to them, but she was _anything_ but weak. It had cost them dearly to learn that lesson, but they had.

When she opened her eyes, she was somewhere else. _In_ someone else's body. Helen was madder than hell, but she wasn't stupid. She had slipped a micro thin fiber optic cable out of the pod so she could see what was happening. Such low tech methods were virtually undetectable and could extend quite a ways. It could go places that few non-spetsnatz could imagine.

 _Major!_ Helen said sub-vocal as she felt Kateriana's presence. _Karen is unconscious_ _but her vitals seem strong_ _. The pilot and ship are disabled. The_ _ones who caught us_ _are pulling us in. Oddly gentle for Grin_ _e_ _er._ She mused.

 _These are not normal Grineer._ The Major replied. _Have you accessed anything?_ She asked, worry surfacing. _Such would not be a good idea._

 _No._ Helen was quick to reassure her. _The pilot warned me that he and the ship had set traps throughout the systems in case of capture and_ _in the course of basic scans,_ _I have detected several. That means that there are likely more that I haven't found._ Helen replied. _I don't dare touch_ _any of_ _Nighnova's systems. I bet it will come back online far more quickly than Harkonar can imagine and be extremely unhappy._

 _No bet._ Major Keras replied dryly. _Can you access any Grineer systems remotely? Your codes should allow for unrestricted access to any normal Grineer systems._ She felt Helen's shock and Keras shrugged. _Trust is not something we spetsnatz do, Helen._ _Mitchell knew that when he let you in there._ **I** _bet he and_ **they** _have a non-hack-able way to jettison you in such a case._ _Maybe even Karen._

 _I_ _would really rather not be fired today._ Helen said with a gulp. Major Keras had to chuckle at that.

 _Me too._ The Major replied. _Okay, have they put the ship down? Can you see anything?_

 _Yes, we were just set down on the belly of the ship. I may have difficulty getting out_ _of this pod_ _with_ _the ship_ _in this position._ _I see…_ Helen swept the camera on the end of the probe across the length and breadth it would go. _Not many troops in the hangar bay_ _but more are coming in_ _. They are all armed with…_ _pistols?_ She paused. _What the hell? Nukor pistols? I see no other weapons._

 _Ouch._ Keras swallowed hard. _Those tend to boil anyone they hit_ _no matter the armor they are wearing_ _. They are ready for a Grineer assault. Wait one._ She felt Helen's affirmation as she opened her own eyes. Multitasking came easily for spetsnatz. It was one of the prime requisites to get into the specialized training in the first place, to be better at it than a normal Marine. She nodded to Ruk. "I have some intel. Their troops that we saw in the hangar are all armed with Nukors."

"Damn." The general shook his head. "Energy weapons. It would have been a slaughter and not of them." Keras nodded.

"Would you mind of we handle it?" Keras asked softly. Ruk eyed her and she shrugged. "It is politic to ask." He chuckled and then nodded.

"What do you need?" Ruk asked very quietly for a Grineer.

"Keep trying to contact them. They will expect you to be very angry at their insulting behavior. So? Be angry. Try to hold their attention. In a few minutes it won't matter, but those few minutes are critical."

"Boarders?" Ruk inquired as he nodded to his crew and the clones all bent to their tasks.

"Fire them, but have them stay away from this hangar bay." Keras pulled up a holographic display of the enemy ship where a section flashed. "Normal Grineer tactics would be to try and will attack everywhere at once. So pick one spot and flood it with troops. You are going to take heavy casualties to such weaponry." She warned.

"That is what Grineer are for." Ruk waved the warning away. "But with your warning, we will be better suited to handle such." He nodded to subordinate who started barking orders. "The bay?"

"Any and all Grineer near that bay are about to die." Keras said with a grim smile and Ruk actually shuddered. "They will need me."

"Major?" The General said as Keras nodded to him and turned to go. He actually _smiled_ at her, one predator to another. "Hunt well."

Keras smiled, but inside, she was anything but happy. She spoke in her mind. _Team? Is the ship ready?_

 _It is._ Nina Tal was subdued, scared almost! Keras shared the feeling. What they were about to do tempted fate in so many ways that no one outside of the spetsnatz would ever know about. _Major._ **It** _is ready._ She offered.

 _Major._ Helen's voice was subdued as well. _I… I am ready._

 _Deactivate your auditory implants and confirm that they are deactivated, Helen. You do_ **not** _want to hear this._ The Colonel commanded from where his mind resided in her backpack and she did.

 _They are._ Helen replied. _Wait! How the_ **hell?** _A team of Harkonar just opened the canopy! They are taking the pilot and Helen!_ **We** _couldn't do that without activating the self destruct! How did_ **they?**

"Hold fire, Nina Tal." The major commanded as she ran into the hangar bay that held their Ogma and boarded without even glancing the Grineer who were gawking at the human running through their ship. They knew she ah was aboard and knew she was not to be shot at, but this was likely the first time any of these had seen a human. She did not have time to indulge their curiosity or their hostility. She had a job to do. "Wait until they are out of the bay. We will get them back."

She slammed into her seat and strapped herself in with trained reflexes while she focused on three things at once. Helen and the newly come ship, the battle between Grineer and Infested and one other thing that she could _not_ get wrong. She barely noticed as the Lancer powered up the ship and took off in his usual abrupt fashion. She and the colonel were busy.

"They are out of the bay." Helen said quietly. "I recommend giving them a few moments more to be sure they are clear."

"Can't wait too long." Major Keras said with a sigh. "Or Harkonar will hurt or kill them trying to get information. Colonel?" She asked.

"Codes authorized." The Colonel's voice was subdued. Even as old, jaded and bitter as the ancient mind was, he too knew about limits and the whole team was about to pass them. There were rules for a reason and this weapon was one of those reasons. "Weapon ready to deploy. Fire at your discretion, Nina Tal."

"Yes, sir." Nina Tal said softly as she pressed a small, harmless looking button on a small, almost insignificant looking piece of equipment. It was not one that anyone would have ever looked twice at. Intentionally. "Activating Glasnost."

No one outside of spetsnatz would ever know what the weapon was or what it really did. No one _could_. Some ancient military historians had surmised that the weapon fired meson beams but those few had all perished in totally deniable accidents. In a way, they were right. Orokin had been a time of miracles and monstrosities. The thing that the spetsnatz with heavy irony called 'Glasnost' for 'a way to peace' was one such thing. It was both miraculous _and_ monstrous.

Also scary as _hell_.

Whatever the weapon was, when it fired, the only thing that anyone ever heard was _music_. Every single Grineer in the bay heard music simultaneously. Then they all dropped dead with no visible or easily detectable signs of death, the most important neurons in their brains incinerated by small, precisely targeted bursts of invisible and unstoppable radiation.

There had been almost three hundred armed and armored Grineer in and around the bay.

Five seconds after Nina Tal pressed the button, there were _none_.


	17. Chapter 17

**No matter the cost**

 _What…_ Helen stammered in her mind as she was sudden heartbroken for no reason she could determine. _What just happened?_

 _Glasnost happened._ Anna replied heavily. _The way is clear for us to board and secure the ship. Then we will find and rescue the prisoners._

 _I don't understand!"_ Helen replied, confused. _Why am I so sad?_

To her surprise, it was the _Lancer_ who replied.

 _There was no time to explain and the manuals you have studied will not have covered that for very good reason. Any action has a reaction, Helen._ The former grineer said quietly. _What we just did will have sent shockwaves across many different realms. The weapon is incredibly powerful, invisible and unstoppable, that is not in question. Fear of that weapon is what allows us to act as we do, using the fear of that weapon far more often than the actual one. We cannot use it often but that does not mean we cannot threaten to use it._

 _I did wonder why the Grineer did not kill you, Anna._ Helen admitted. _I mean, you are spetsnatz and scary as hell. I hope to be half the soldier you are someday. But you are human. Aren't you?_ She asked.

 _Technically yes._ Anna replied. _For the moment anyway._ Helen stiffened at that.

 _What do you mean?_ Helen asked, stunned.

 _I mean that when my body finally fails, which it will in the near future, the energy that makes me up will be stored and then used to power the weapon when it is needed again._ Anna replied, calm. Helen felt sudden horror dawn and Anna spoke before she could. _Yes. The Colonel is gone. Utterly gone. There is really only one way to get promoted in the spetsnatz. We are functionally immortal._

 _You are Colonel now._ Nina Tal's words were calm and precise. _Landing zone is clear._

 _He… ordered the use of the weapon… knowing…_ Helen stammered.

 _Yes, Helen, he knew._ Anna said heavily. _We all did. We all will. We all know that the weapon is needed at times, but such a powerful tool has consequences for its use._ _Every time it fires, it kills the senior most of us._ _That is the prime requisite for our recruits. Nothing to loose. That is why you will likely not be one of us after this mission._

 _No._ Helen said with a growl. _I am with you!_

 _Helen._ That was from Nina Tal! _You have a chance at a better life. Do not throw it away. We do not_ _have such_ _. The Lancer and I were cannon fodder. No more. No matter my shooting skill or his tactical expertise, we were disposable tools._ _Things_ _to be used, abused and thrown away when broken._ _What the Ma-…_ She paused and then grimly corrected herself. _What the Colonel did gave us a chance to make things better. We are weapons, all of us. No more._

 _I do not believe that._ Helen said softly. _But the mission comes first._ She felt approval from the others. It was not a group mind, not quite, but she could feel them. _Orders?_

 _They likely do not know you are there._ Anna replied as the Ogma slammed into the now empty bay. She shook her head as she saw how Nightnova was laid. _We may not be able to get you out of the ship with it laid down like that but you can still be of help. We will get access to their systems._

The bulbous Grineer bomber craft landed with a suddenness that was oddly gentle. The Lancer was a damn good pilot. Maybe not in Mitchell's class, but he was good. Without a word, all three of the spetsnatz slid out of the their seats and exited the craft in utter silence. The Major led, her sub-machine gun an extension of her will as she moved to a console nearby. The drone followed her. She ignored the bodies that lay every which way. They were not going to move again. As she expected, it was a standard Grineer console. The clones did not build fancy things. They built things to last. This was both good and bad. Good in that even a direct hit from ordnance would likely do little damage to the robust systems. Bad in that if someone sneaky had built back doors into the _original_ Grineersystems that had then been slavishly copied by the many following generations, as Anna had, then all kinds of bad things could happen. Such as what was about to happen to this unfortunate crew.

 _I am in._ Anna said after a moment, the two clones covering her as she worked. _I am setting up a remote feed to you, Helen. You will be our eyes and ears._ An alarm started blaring and Anna looked for the cause. It wasn't them! _Ruk is true to his word. He landed about a company of troops in a bay on the other side of the ship._ _Nightwatch are doing what they do. Making a mess._

 _Do the_ _Harkonar_ _know we are here?_ The Lancer asked.

 _No._ Anna and Helen both replied. Anna continued. _The ones here died too fast to sound an alarm. Unless we get visually identified, trigger a sensor or get blindsided by a Regulator, we should be good to go._

 _And that is my job._ Helen said softly. _Harkonar has cameras in places and I have access. This seems more like the Corpus than Grineer._ She mused.

 _Industrialists._ Anna replied. _Efficiency above all. It may not be_ _the same_ _profit that motivates them_ _as_ _the Corpus, but their goal is advancement of themselves, not the Queens._

 _And the queens trust them?_ Helen demanded, only to have all three others scoff silently. She did as well after a moment. _Never mind. Stupid question._

 _The only stupid question is one that is not asked._ Anna replied with a smile in her mental voice as she finalized the connections. _That said? No. The Queens do not trust them._ _With reason. See if you can find where they took Mitchell, Karen and Hadi._

 _Accessing._ Helen's mind went many places at once. The information was overwhelming, but the mental framework the previous colonel had showed her helped a great deal. _I am detecting many drones on this ship._ She said softly. _I can take control._

 _Do it._ Anna commanded and Helen did information level was suddenly crushing, but three other minds joined into the framework and the flow slowed to manageable proportions.

 _Wow._ Helen said softly as she was suddenly _everywhere_ on the ship. _That is…_ She gulped.

 _Terrifying._ Anna agreed. _Welcome to our world. I for one hope you won't be staying._

 _We will talk._ Helen's words were and calm and assured then she stiffened. _I have them! Some kind of lab. It looks to be about three hundred meters west of the hangar bay._

All four spetsnatz eyed the layout of the lab as they could see it through the cameras and several drones that hovered inside. Karen was laid out on a table with energy playing over her and Mitchell was trussed up on another, smocked forms gathered around him.

 _Reclaimers!_ Nina Tal's voice held emotion fro the first time. Hate. _We do not have a lot of time!_

 _That is not what worries me._ Anna said flatly and the others all tensed. _You do not recognize the energy patterns around the one in the middle, do you, Helen?_ All eyes turned to the Grineer Reclaimer who seemed to be in charge. At least she was giving commands and the others were obeying.

Helen paused and then shook her head as pointless as that was, cooped up in the pod as she was. The patterns were nothing she had ever seen. Oddly compelling, but also oddly frightening. _No._

 _Good. That is not a Reclaimer._ Anna sighed and then spoke again. _Lancer, We may need some specialized assistance for this one. Contingency Eight. Set for pulse._ Helen felt the Lancer's shock, but Anna continued. _Helen, you are not cleared for that._ _We need Karen and Mitchell alive. Move, spetsnatz! Helen! You are our eyes!_

She and the other two started for the exit, stepping over and in some cases, on bodies that would not decay as rapidly as Grineer generally did. Leaving scary mysteries was part of the job.

 _Roger._ Helen replied. _Orders?_

 _Get us there. We will take care of the rest._

The trio of forms all but vanished as their camouflage activated. They approached the door with weapons ready. It hissed open and a Grineer tech stood there, his face shocked by the carnage. He stepped into the bay and then shook his head, starting for a console nearby, only to fall as Anna put a silent three round burst through his skull.

 _Any more?_ Anna was a machine now.

 _No._ Helen replied. _That one must have missed the dead outside. There is an elevator nearby. He probably came from that. Apologies._

 _These things happen, just watch our back._ Anna was cool, but not cold. She was focused on the mission now. Helen had to admire the woman's poise in such a situation but also felt some trepidation. To know that one was mortal was part and parcel to any human. To _knowingly_ and _willing_ give up your future for a mission? Even one you might disagree with? Ouch.

Once, a Grineer patrol stepped out of a cross corridor, but Helen had warned the team and they melted into the shadows. Three incredibly powerful weapons and a very dangerous drone tracked the five clone strong patrol as it moved off, but none of them fired. Better not to have a trail of bodies pointing at them. The alarm continued to blare and Helen checked the Nightwatch's progress every so often. They were advancing, but slowly. They were taking heavy casualties but that usually just made Nightwatch mad. The team came to a sealed door and Helen paused as her senses did not touch it.

 _They have locked the door._ Helen warned. _I do not think it is on this network. Can you hack it from there?_

 _We could._ Anna allowed. _But it would take time and a single misstep would alert them to our presence. Better we do it the fast and loud way. Nina Tal, step back, overwatch. Lancer? Set to breach._

The sniper set herself a few steps back, her long rifle up and ready. The Lancer slapped something against the hatch and then stepped back himself, his Burston rifle ready and aimed as Anna moved to the wall next to the hatch. That took maybe five seconds.

 _Roger._ Helen said grimly. _Marking targets._ Every enemy in the lab was highlighted on their optic implants. A countdown appeared in the vision of all of them. Anna counting down.

 _3\. 2. 1. GO!_

Instead of a blast, the door simply vanished in a bright flash of golden light. Silent golden light that was somehow deafening but only _away_ from the team! The two ready spetsnatz charged in and split up, Anna going left, Lancer going right. Nina Tal's shot took the head off the first Reclaimer to turn, pawing at her eyes and the others fell to swift and silent carefully aimed bursts from the other two.

All but one. That one, Anna and the Lancer both hit with bullets and the rounds did _nothing at all_. She glared at them form behind a shimmering purple shell.

"You will die here, spetsnatz dog!" The female Grineer was clad in an odd garment. It was clearly armor, but far more ornate than normal Grineer armor. Not golden, but ornate. Odd.

"Will we?" Anna inquired mildly. "Do you have any idea what you are doing?"

She asked asked calmly as she and Lancer checked for other enemies who might have hidden from Helen's senses. There were none. She put another burst onto a Reclaimer who was groaning and the female clone lay still.

"We are building the future! You will pay for-" She broke off as Anna laughed, but not coldly. Actually _amused?_ "What?"

"No." Anna waved at Lancer who moved to check Karen. "Not what you lot spout, I have heard that so many times. Yes, you are building the future. No, you don't want to bow to the queens. Yadda, yadda, yadda. It got old after the second time." She shook her head, still aiming at the clone. "I mean here. Now." She nodded to the shield. "Do you have _any_ idea at all what that is?" She seemed honestly curious.

"This is the future!" The clear leader said with a growl. "You cannot harm me while I am protected my my +20 shield of invulnerability! I am invincible!"

"What?" Anna asked, and then she started to laugh. "Oh my _god!_ You did _not_ just say that!" She shook her head. "Not that any of you Harkonar idiots have ever _heard_ of Peter's Evil Overlord List, but _geez!_ " The other two were chuckling as well as Lancer gave a thumb's up to Anna. Karen was okay.

"Stop laughing!" The female clone snarled.

"Why? This is quite funny." Anna asked. "I mean, sure, your shield is powerful, true. It bends reality around it. Quantum mechanics and all." She shrugged. "I have seen such things before." Her eyes turned cold and so did her laughter. "Once it is up, we cannot touch you and _you_ cannot touch _us_." Her smile might have turned out the _Sun_. "Have a nice _day_ , Harkonar scum. I do wonder how long the power supply for that will last. Oh wait… It is drawing on quantum fluctuations, isn't it? In that case, it will last to the heat death of this universe, won't it?"

"How do you know that?" The clone female was suddenly wary.

"Like I say, I have seen it before." Anna replied. She turned to Mitchell and smiled as she saw he hadn't been touched yet. They had been in time. "Somehow you tampered with his implants or the ship, didn't you?"

"Like I will tell you anything, base!" The clone broke off as Lancer and Nina Tal laughed at her. "What?"

"Angering the colonel is a bad idea." Lancer said as he gathered Karen up in gentle arms. "Baseline human she may be, but she is _not_ weak and Grineer found that out the hard way. _You_ are about to."

"Don't encourage her." Anna said mildly as the Grineer in the shield started to sputter. "Is it set?" He nodded. "Can you carry them both?" He nodded again.

Anna drew a knife and easily cut the metal straps that held Mitchell to the table. She put her knife away, picked him up just as easily and held him so that Lancer could lift Karen onto a shoulder. She slid Mitchell onto his other shoulder and Lancer started for the door. Helen stared as he left the room, leaving Anna to face the Grineer. Nina Tal also left, covering the Lancer's exfiltration.

"Helen, you are not cleared for this, but you likely won't remember it and whatever else happens? Don't say anything about it." Anna tapped her wrist and a blue thing glowed on it. "Sir?" She listed to something only she could hear. "Yes, sir. Another. Yes, sir, these coordinates. As instructed, sir. I am reporting it." She paused and blanched. " _No sir!_ " She said quickly. "This time, it wasn't them or us! We know better. Yes, sir. Yes, sir." She smiled ever so slightly wider as the shield around the Grineer _vanished_. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." She tapped it again and the blue thing vanished.

The Grineer's hand flashed to her side and the holstered pistol there, but Anna's SMG burped offhand and the Grineer fell, her arm a mess of twisted metal. Three more times, Anna fired with one hand and three more times, a prosthetic limb was turned into useless junk.

"Like I say." Anna said as she aimed at the Grineer's head. "I have seen such before. The Orokin learned that lesson. I was there when they did. I think it is time the _Grineer_ learned that lesson as well. Quantum mechanics are the basis of what we consider reality. Tamper with reality at your _peril_. This is your _only_ warning." She paused as something flashed blue and then green. The Grineer jerked. "Sir?" Anna asked and then winced. "Oh, I see. Yes, sir. I think that fitting too, sir. Thank you, sir. Me too, sir. I hope not to ever talk to you again _either_ , sir." She shook her head and turned to go.

"You cannot just leave me like this! I am your master!" The Grineer screamed, trying to move.

"No, you are not." Anna replied, not turning back. "You see, every self destruct you have was just deactivated. Your implants will last just long enough for you to be interrogated, to give the Queens the proof they need to move on your clan. Then you will die. There are some things that _no one_ does for good reason. My mission will be accomplished if I have to do it over the bodies of every single one of your people but if you continue to play with that? I won't _have_ to. Nightwatch will be here shortly and when they get here? You know what they will do." She smiled again. "You even have the room ready for them to start your interrogation. How thoughtful."

She left the lab and Helen was shocked as the Grineer started to _cry_ behind the newest Colonel. Then her sensors beeped. Anna was in motion even as the sound of firing came from up ahead. Another Grineer patrol!

Anna hit the Grineer from behind and shot two even as Nina Tal took down the last one. Lancer was on the ground, over top of Karen and Mitchell. He hadn't been able to fight while carrying them so he had protected them the only way he could when the patrol had exited the elevator in the sensor blind spot. Helen started to cry. One look at him showed the truth. He was not going to move again. Helen was all but incoherent as his mind touched theirs one last time.

 _Vsed_ _g_ _a veren._ The mind of the former Grineer was fading, but proud. _We do the mission. Any mission… Colonel, it was an honor._

"Vsedga veren. The honor was mine, Lancer." Anna sounded calm, but her emotions were all over the place. Helen rushed to aid her, their shared pain lesser and Anna thanked her wordlessly. "That is your name and that is how we will remember you."

 _Not your fault, Helen._ Lancer said heavily as Helen tried to apologize. _The mission comes first. These things happen. Vsedga veren… I..._

Then he was gone.

 _I can't do this._ Helen said weakly. _I want to, but I can't._

 _I know._ Anna's mind caressed hers gently as she picked up Karen, Nina Tal hefted Mitchell and neither dawdled as the self destructs in Lancer's body went off in a silent flash of gold, leaving nothing but memories. _Once the mission is done, I swear to you, I will undo what I did, give you a new life, manufacture some memories that will cover this whole mess. He was right. The mission comes first._

 _Then let's get it done! Helen_ snapped as Mitchell groaned and opened his eyes.

"Going to sleep was almost as unpleasant as waking this way." Mitchell said grimly as he bounded on Nina Tal's shoulder. He stared into the bay filled with corpses and sighed. "You lot are just as scary as ever. And some people _want_ war. Idiots."

"Think of it a job security. As long as idiots like that exist, so will we." Anna replied as Karen moaned softly. "Easy, Karen, We need to get you to the ship and get out of here. The Nightwatch are pissed and will tear this ship apart. I am Colonel now."

"Colonel? Oh no." The voice from Karen wasn't hers. "Oh, no, no, no… He _didn't_." Hadi was crying.

"Where is your pilot?" Mitchell asked, worried as Nina Tal set him down and helped him run.

"Dead." Anna replied.

"You need one?" Mitchell asked as they ran for the Ogma.

"Can you fly a Grineer ship?" Anna asked and then smacked her head. ""What am I saying? Duh!"

"I can. Nightnova will follow and cover us." Mitchell said as he looked at Nightnova which hummed and rose on silent anti-gravity. "We will need to figure out what they did to us but that is for later. Let's get the hell out of here!" Anna nodded, her heart heavy.

"Preferably before the cost gets any dearer."


	18. Chapter 18

**The hard way  
**

It was anticlimactic.

Nightnova had shadowed the team's Ogma to the beacon site and a full wing of Grineer space fighter craft had done the same. Mitchell had been wary. No one blamed him for that but nothing had happened. A few times a Darygn or two had peeled off to demolish something that might have been space borne Infested or might have been random space debris. It didn't matter. _Nothing_ got close to the spetsnatz's ship. General Sargas Ruk was taking no chances this time.

Mitchell had set the ship down expertly, nodded to the spetsnatz and left before anyone else had landed. He had silently climbed into Nightnova and then the ship had vanished just as smoothly as it had appeared. No one was dumb enough to shoot at them _or_ to assume they had left the area. Helen had marched to the beacon site surrounded by a wall of armored clones. None had spoken to her or to the other spetsnatz. It had worried her, but Anna had reassured her silently that Ruk wasn't playing them false. He wouldn't until he was sure the mission was done. Then all bets would be off.

Ruk had been waiting at the beacon site with a full battalion of clones. Some of them wore the black and red of Nightwatch and looked a bit the worse for wear, but _all_ had the same grim look of satisfaction on their faces. Say what you would about the Grineer, one did not underestimate their ability to overwhelm most foes with sheer numbers. At least, more than once. None of them paid Helen any mind at all as Anna and Nina Tal took up station beside her. She ignored them, focused on her work.

The work was technical, but she was careful. She followed the checklists as they were shown to her by the manuals built into her implants. The beacon was not quite like any Orokin tech that Helen had ever seen before. That stood to reason, since it was supposedly a guide to a _Tenno_ ship, but there was something odd about it.

 _Colonel?_ Helen asked as she slid a series of LEDs into the proper position and a set of icons lit upon the side of the beacon. She had no idea what the icons meant, but the manual said it was working right. For whatever that was worth. _This doesn't seem right._ She said slowly.

 _What do you mean?_ Anna inquired, her attention on the surrounding wall of clones and the area around them which was dreadfully quiet. Nothing was moving. Nothing at all. That boded.

 _This beacon is ancient, no?_ Helen asked slowly. Anna made a noise in her mind of affirmation. _Even Orokin structures can fall apart after so long. I know Orokin tech self repairs_ _if it has access to power_ _, does Tenno tech do the same?_ _This looks, well… This is certainly not new, but not as old as I would have thought. Has anyone been tinkering with these?_

 _That… is a good question._ Anna said as she slid to look at the beacon. _I never actually looked too closely at these. I was focused on blowing them up. Nina Tal? You examined them closer at hand. Is this one the same?_

 _No._ If anything, the sniper sounded worried. _It is not. Colonel…_

 _The readings are what I was told they should be._ Anna said slowly. Then she shook her head. "General?" She inquired and the massive form of the Grineer in charge stumped over to him. "We have something odd here. Odd in my experience usually means 'bad'."

"You are so right, ya silly bitch." Everything came to a sudden halt as a black Nekros warframe stepped out of a shadow nearby. That shadow hadn't been large enough to shelter him! The Grineer all raised weapons, but he just laughed. "By all means. Start the dance, you filthy clones."

He didn't draw his pistols! Indeed, his hands were clasped in front of him! All of the Grineer were suddenly in between him and the spetsnatz.

"Stop." Anna said with a growl as Ruk snarled an obscenity. "That is what he _wants!_ He wants violence. It is what he does. All he knows." She slowly shook her head. "The mission comes first, well before any old fool, no matter how much I would love to tear him apart with my bare hands myself." Her blood lust was the equal of any Grineer for a moment, but then she tamped it back down.

"You are _still_ feisty." Nikis had a grin in his voice. "I look forward to hearing you scream again."

"I am sure such gives you warm and tingly feelings." Anna snapped as a Grineer raised his weapon. "Don't bother." Anna sighed, but too late. The Grineer snapped off a burst from his Hind and the hologram of Nikis shimmered for a moment before reforming. He snickered at them. The snicker faded as Anna continued. "You see, like most Tenno, he is a gutless piece of shit. They are so bold and tough when the odds are in their favor and when they are not? They run the hell away." She shrugged. "Go ahead, Tenno. Do whatever the hell you want to do. You won't stop me and you know it."

"Wanna bet?" Nikis asked, to all appearances _amused_ by her insolence.

"Yeah." Anna smiled wide at the Nekros. "Karen? If you would please?"

The hologram vanished and Karen shimmered into sight beside Helen who nodded other. None of the Grineer as much as flinched. Then again, Anna had never corrected their assumption that the Marine was spetsnatz. So, as far as they knew, she was on their side. Which she was. Sort of.

"I managed to isolate the wavelength he was using and jam it. That won't hold him." Karen said quietly. "He could have made that hologram from just about anywhere, but I bet he is close. We need to get this done. Quick."

"This beacon looks newer than the ones we blew up." Nina Tal held up a hand and a hologram of a very similar ancient looking device appeared in the air over her hand. All of the spetsnatz scrutinized it with Ruk who growled.

"Do we have time to dither?" Ruk's words were not quite a demand.

"No." Anna agreed. "Helen? Activate it. We will deal with whatever comes."

Helen did as ordered and then she was hardly the only to one to scream as the world turned a bright golden red. Helen was disoriented by the sudden translocation, but not disoriented enough to miss the pain that slammed into her. She screamed again, this time in agony. She was in the air, on her back and she felt wetness seeping out of her. Into… something? She was fading. Somehow, she knew she was dying even without being able to access any of her implants.

"Fire!" That came from _Ruk!_ A roar of gunfire heralded a feminine scream of rage and pain. Helen landed on a hard metal floor, agony seeping out of every pore. She stared down at what she could see of herself and she was _covered_ in blood. Her own blood seeping from many deep wounds.

 _Helen!_ Anna's despairing voice preceded the spetsnatz commander into her sight. Helen tried to speak, but even mind to mind was too much effort. _Ah hell!_

 _Vse-…_ Helen tried, but then golden energy swooped down over her and she was caught up in it. It felt marvelous and she stared up at _Trinity!_ The shade was transparent and wore no warframe. Anna had pulled her out? Every Grineer was aiming at the shade, but Trinity ignored them all, pouring healing energy into Helen who smiled at her. Trinity smiled back, but it was sorrowful.

"What the hell just happened?" Ruk demanded as Helen felt her strength return. "And _what_ the hell is _this?_ "

"In order." Anna said grimly. "I do not know what happened and this is a prisoner who is a medic. The thing attacked our medic. None of us could have saved her. Whatever the hell that thing was, it nearly killed her."

"These wounds were caused by a Garuda warframe or specter." Trinity said very quietly. Helen stared at her and Trinity knelt down beside her. She wasn't tangible, but her energy was still soothing Helen. "Don't try to move just yet. You lost a lot of blood."

"Why did it attack her?" Anna was not happy. Not at all.

"Specters were always intended as guardians." Trinity said quietly. "Beyond that? I don't know. Are we on the ship?" She asked. Anna looked around and then nodded sharply once. "I need to get to the AI core to shut it down. Deactivate it all."

"Oh?" Ruk glared at her and then at Anna who shrugged.

"Do not pretend you do not have orders to gun us all down as soon as the mission is done, General." Anna said with a growl of her own. "The weapon needs to be disabled. The Queens know that, but after? You and I both know what will happen." She met his glare with one of her own. "The mission comes first."

"You are almost stubborn enough to be Grineer, Major." Ruk allowed, not giving an inch. None of the spetsnatz bothered to correct him. "Which way?"

"We are on one of the main decks." Anna replied, turning a little to look around while still keeping Ruk in front of her.

"Helen will not be able to walk." Trinity warned.

"Fine." Ruk snapped and raised his armored arm at the fallen woman! Helen could do nothing as the hiss of a flamethrower started to cycle.

"General." Anna warned as she, Karen and Nina Tal stilled. Trinity looked from one to the other, her face impassive. "That is a bad idea."

"Yes, it is." A new voice! Every eye spun to the side as a female form stepped out of a door to stand in the hallway. She was unarmed and looked human, but there was something off about her. Trinity inhaled and the newcomer nodded to her. "Hello Trinity."

" _Anahera_..." Trinity said weakly. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"My job." The other was not hostile, but she was not friendly either. She looked at the clones and shook her head. "Violence will not be tolerated here. Anna..." She said slowly. "You came back."

"Hadi woke up." Anna said softly and the other stared at her, impassive. "I know."

"And _Trinity_ is here… _because_..." The being called Anahera asked slowly. Trinity was hardly the only one to stiffen at the hate in her voice.

"Because I screwed up." Trinity snapped and Anahera just looked at her. Then the newcomer nodded slowly.

"That you did." Anahera replied as the Ruk glared at them all. "I have no quarrel with you." She warned Ruk. "My quarrel is with Trinity and her ilk. Not you. Do not make us have a quarrel." She might have been carved form ice for all the emotion she showed.

"Do not! She is not there!" Anna warned as Ruk opened his mouth, probably to insult the newcomer or order his men to fire. "You do not want to anger her. General Sargas Ruk? Meet Anahera. Last captain of the Artemis Ascendant."

"The _what?_ " Ruk and Trinity both chorused as Karen moved to stand over Helen.

"That wasn't the name of the ship." Trinity said weakly. Anahera scoffed and the shade shook her head. "Whatever I have done to anger you, Anahera… This situation needs to be resolved."

"That it does." Anahera agreed, ignoring Ruk who bristled but subsided for the moment when Anna waved at him. That wouldn't last. The volatile Grineer would lash out. It was a question of when, not if. "Anna?" She asked.

"Hadi is bound to Karen." Anna said, not moving. "These are with me." She inclined her head to Nina Tal and Helen who sat up slowly. "Why did your guardian attack us?"

"You of all people know the answer to that, spetsnatz." The female looking being smiled, but it held little humor. More malice. "Trust must be _earned_. You did. But these? And _her?_ " She all but spat at Trinity. "Not going to happen."

"This needs to _end_ , Anahera." Trinity begged. "If my death be the key to solving this-" She broke off as Anahera sighed.

"Death. Always death." The other said sadly. "Your kind will never change. It is always kill, kill, kill. Never anything else. Small wonder she didn't want to stay."

"What?" Trinity stared at her and then at Anna who did not move. "Anahera… Please? What have I done to anger you? We thought you gone."

"I am." The other snapped and then she vanished!

"What is going on?" Ruk demanded. "You have lied to me." He aimed at Anna who did not move. All of the Grineer were now aiming at the spetsnatz. Trinity crouched over Helen, for all the good that would do.

"And you have lied to me." Anna retorted without heat. She slowly shook her head. "Disabling the weapon was and is not a lie, General. How I planned to do it? I never said. You do not want to know. You also do not want to do that." She warned as Ruk growled at her. "She warned you. Violence will not be tolerated. We disable the weapon and _leave_. _Then_ we can kill each other."

"Artemis _Ascendant_..." Trinity breathed softly. "Oh my god! She _didn't!_ "

"She did." Anna replied. "It was the only way to save them."

"That is forbidden!" Trinity said weakly. "Nikis is going to have a _stroke!_ "

"Nikis can go _fuck himself_." Anna snapped. Ruk stared from her to Trinity and back. "My mission is all I care about. Tenno, Grineer, Corpus, all of them can go fuck themselves. The Queens understand that." She said as Ruk goggled at her. "I told them, flat out, that disabling the Artemis' weapon was my only purpose here. I don't give a shit about your conquests, General, about the Tenno's vaunted honor or _anyone's else's_ bullshit. I have a job to do. Help me or get out of the way."

She bent down and gathered Helen up in strangely gentle arms. Helen was staring at the soldier, trying to comprehend all of this.

"Don't turn your back on me, human!" Ruk snapped, patience fleeing.

"We need to disable the weapon before the Tenno get here- _OH SHIT!_ " Anna recoiled a golden flare heralded four Tenno appearing in the hallway. Nikis had his pistols in hand. Rachel stood by him, the Saryn radiating fury that snapped with the energy of her scythe. The other two, Helen did not know. An Excalibur and a Trinity. Both held golden weapons ready. " _NO! Don't!_ " Anna screamed as the Grineer raised weapons and the Tenno did likewise.

"You and I got a date, girl." Nikis snapped and then froze as Anahera appeared in the hall again. When she spoke it was as if all the firs of hell went out.

"Tenno." Anahera's voice was all wrong. Everything about it was _wrong_. "You are not welcome here, Tenno."

"Anahera." Nikis sounded incredulous. Then he recoiled! "Oh no. No… What have you done, girl?"

" _You_ are the only one allowed to break the rules, I know." Anahera said in a mild voice that _wasn't_. "Anna? Take the door to the left." She slowly tilted her neck from side to side. Stretching? "Your mission awaits. These Tenno and I need to have a chat."

That was not a threat. But it _was!_

"Anahera, don't!" Nikis pleaded. "We can help you, girl!"

"Like you did before." Anahera asked very quietly and all three of the other Tenno looked at Nikis who shook his head.

"I do not know what you are talking about." Nikis said slowly. "You disappeared. You came _here?_ " He all but begged.

"Do not ignore me!" Ruk screamed "Grineer-" Whatever else he was going to say was cut off as at least twenty reddish orange shades appeared in the hallway between him and Anna. They solidified into warframes! Twenty warframes! All looked to be dripping blood!

"I have no quarrel with you." Anahera did not take her eyes off Nikis who slowly shook his head. "My quarrel is with _him and them._ " All four of the Tenno stilled as the newly appeared warframes took a step towards them. None held weapons. Did they _need_ them?

"Anahera?" Rachel asked softly. "You were a Guardian. You disappeared."

"Did I?" Anahera might have been discussing the weather. "Did I really?"

"Sister..." Nikis pleaded but Anahera all but exploded.

" _I AM NO SISTER OF YOURS, YOU LYING SACK OF SHIT!_ " Anahera solidified into a warframe as well, bony claws extending from its wrists into points that still dripped with Helen's blood. "You will not hurt her again! _Show yourself!_ " She screamed.

"Who are you talking to, you mad thing?" Ruk demanded only to still as Hayden appeared into the middle of the hallway. The First Tenno's posture was resigned. Ruk snorted. "Anyone else going to pop in?"

"No." Anahera laughed at that joke and the entire hall seemed to shudder with her insane laughter. "The gang is all here. You and yours are here to witness the destruction of the weapon. No more. If you try to do anything else, you will die here. Do I make myself clear, clone?"

"What do you want?" Ruk demanded, unsure.

"She wants an end." Anna replied. "One that the Tenno denied her." She glared at Hayden who would not meet her eyes. "After all, what better guard for a weapon like that than something immortal?" She shook her head as Ruk inhaled. "Tell me, General, what would happen if one was left alone on a ship drifting through space for eternity to contemplate one's failures?"

"They would go mad." Ruk said very softly.

"I already was." Anahera shrugged. "Small loss, huh?" The smile she turned on Hayden was almost as kind as a shark's might be. She paused as Trinity rose and stepped towards her. "Trinity." She warned.

"What did he do?" Trinity asked sadly. "He lied to me. He knew about Tali and Hadi. He knew and didn't tell me that I hurt them so badly. That I abandoned them." Anahera paused and then slowly relaxed, just a little.

"He lied to me." Anahera said softly. "He told me that I had a chance at new life. Instead? I have drifted here alone. He said I was to guard the Tenno's future and instead? I woke up here." She shrugged. Trinity stared at her and then blanched.

"He _didn't_..." Trinity breathed but Anahera nodded. The glare that Trinity turned on Hayden should have rendered him to ash. "You _SON OF A_ **BITCH!** "

"What the hell is going on?" Ruk all but screamed. Trinity answered him.

"A funeral. The Tenno named Trinity just _died!_ " The shade slumped and then nodded to Anahera whose face slowly relaxed from her rictus of rage. "And yes, Anahera. _You_ are my sister. My sister of loss. Of pain. Of rage. _They_ are not my kin. To them, I am dead."

"Trinity!" Nikis and Hayden both exclaimed as the shade moved to stand by Anna.

"That is not my name. I do not know you." The being who had once called herself Trinity said as Anna nodded to her. " _Any_ of you. We need to end this." She said to Anna who started for the door. Karen, Nina Tal and the shade followed. No one else dared move as the blood dripping warframes started to close in.

"For what it is worth? I am sorry." Anahera said quietly to Helen. "I attacked without checking my target. After so long, I have no excuse. I am glad I didn't kill you, spetsnatz. Finish your mission while I have a chat with these."

The door hissed shut behind them, but not quite fast enough to stop the screams of dying Grineer.


	19. Chapter 19

**Formalities**

Helen was staggering and Karen helped her walk. The shade formerly known as Trinity walked with them, every now and again sending healing energy to the still hurt spetsnatz. Nina Tal and Anna were close enough to ward, but not too close.

"What do I have to do?" The shade asked softly. "Is… Is Tali…?" She swallowed hard. "Was _any_ of what we knew true?"

"Some. The Artemis was attacked." Anna said quietly. "Tali and I were here with Samuel and several others. We had been ordered to disable the weapon as soon as we left the solar system and then return. Things did not work out as planned. At least three teams of hostiles assaulted the ship as soon as it was outside of standard com range and we were fighting for our lives. None of them were taking prisoners. Us or the sleeping Tenno."

"Take, destroy or deny it to enemies." Karen said softly and Anna nodded. "How many?"

"My team accounted for almost fifty, but there were at least three times that. The only thing that saved us from instant annihilation was that they fought each other as hard as they fought us. There were Dax among them and as soon as they saw each other, they charged and hacked each other to bits. What was left were hirelings, mostly cannon fodder, but a _lot_ of them. We were being overwhelmed, driven back and we were falling, one by one." Anna shook her head. "Then Anahera woke up. None of us had any idea she was here until the enemy started screaming and dying. Tali, Samuel and I were all that was left by then and all of us were hurt. Samuel was dying to an Orokin bio-toxin."

"And you can tell me now, because I just burnt all my bridges." The shade said with a nod. "I understand."

"That and if Anahera chooses, none of us will leave this ship. Energy form or no, she rules here." Anna shrugged. "Hadi was the only thing that kept her from killing us when she woke. I can't really blame her. Humans like us had just slaughtered a whole bunch of defenseless sleeping Tenno."

"She said I looked like Hayden." Hadi's voice came from Karen and Karen's face was sick. "That I had been abused just as badly as she had been. She tried to help me and she couldn't. She couldn't help Tali or Anna or Samuel or any of the others. Everyone else died. I think that hurt her worse than what was done to her."

"Maybe." The shade who had once called herself Trinity sighed deeply. "The Anahera I knew was a cold, distant woman. She was not cruel simply to be so, but her job was a hard one. What happened with Oris and Galintra would have driven anyone to the edge of sanity or maybe beyond it. She seemed okay the last time I talked to her." She slumped a bit. "Part of me wants to try to help, but I cannot. I cannot even help myself."

"We need to finish the mission." Helen said softly as Karen took a bit more of her weight. "Then we can worry about the future."

"Agreed." Anna said with a nod. She started off a bit faster and the others kept up, Nina Tal helping with Helen.

Faint booms sounded from the distance, but no commented. Orokin tech defined the word 'robust' and Tenno technology had been just a durable on occasion. The Grineer would have a bad day against four powerful Tenno, not even counting Hayden mixed in.

"I honestly do not understand." Helen said after a moment. "He made Tali and Hadi?"

"We did." The shade replied in a very sad tone. "I was distracted by a lot of things. Nyx had been hurt, there were outbreaks everywhere, the humans were being human..." She paused and sighed. "No offense meant."

"None taken." Helen looked at Anna, but her superior didn't seem to be listening. "We humans can be a very fractious lot. Stupid and silly far too often."

"Playing with the Techocyte Virus was never a good idea, but so many thought it was the ultimate weapon so everyone was trying to make better use of it. To use or to protect against? It made no difference." The golden form sighed again. "Once they had the samples, they always got out, somehow. Then we got called to clean up the mess. They rarely thanked us."

"That won't ever change.. Um..." Karen paused and shook her head. "What do we call you?"

"My name was Lynn before all this." The shade said with shrug. "That will work, but I may not answer to it on the first time. It has been along time."

"No family name?" Karen asked.

"No." Lynn replied, looking at the floor. "Like Samuel said, I threw them away. I thought I was doing the right thing and I wasn't. It really wasn't safe to be around us, that is no excuse."

"I forgive you, Mother." Hadi said and all of them came to a sudden halt as Lynn did.

"Hadi… I may have to kill you and Tali." Lynn said very softly. "I helped build these systems, but I don't know what I can do. I am not what I was. Not even half as smart as I thought I was."

She screamed as a wall exploded ahead of them and Nikis ran into view through the breach, his Dark Sword in hand. He snarled at them.

"Don't you lot be going anywhere!" He snapped as he raised his free hand and orange energy flared. "You are sick! You are coming with me, Trinity!"

" _NO I AM NOT!_ " Lynn shouted as Nina Tal and Anna moved to block him for all the good they would do against the Tenno Grandmaster of the Dead. "You have no call to stop me! I messed up! You know I did! Did you remember?" She demanded.

"It don't matter!" Nikis took a step forward, only to pause as Karen stepped between him and Lynn. "And now they got you too. Damn, girl. You know better than this!"

"I know you can cut me down without a thought." Karen agreed. "But this is _wrong_." She screamed as orange energy suddenly grabbed her and held her, but green energy flared and forced it back! "HADI NO!"

"Leave her alone, you bastard!" Hadi screamed from the Glaive. "You hurt Anna! Now you hurt Karen! Go away you filthy Tenno! Just go away!" Then he screamed in agony and Lynn had heard enough.

"No." Lynn's soft, quiet word silenced the screamed in the hallway. She stepped between Karen and Nikis and when she did, the orange energy vanished. Karen fell to one knee, gasping before rising on unsteady feet. Now, Helen was holding _her_ up. "Leave them alone, Tenno. Your quarrel is with _me_."

Golden code flashed around her, sweeping the orange energy back. Nikis stared at her and then shook his head.

"Trinity, you are confused." Nikis said softly. "You have every right to be, but you are sick. I will take care of you, sister."

"Like you took care of Anna of course." Now, Lynn was glowing brighter. "There are other ways to heal, Tenno. Surgery is not always required to ease suffering. Sometimes it causes more harm than it fixes. But you are wrong about on thing. My name is not Trinity. It is Lynn and you are no kin of mine." At those soft words, Nikis actually recoiled a step.

"Trinity! No!" Was Nikis _begging?_ "I don't know what is going on! It don't matter! You left the database! I got to take you back!"

"No, I have something to do first. Ask Janet." Lynn might have been carved from stone now. Nikis stared at her and she shook her head. "Her visions are clouded when she deals with people she cares for, but it long enough ago that she should be able to see. Ask her, Nikis! Ask her for the truth!" She shook her head again. "You won't thank me for it. Ask her for the truth about what happened to Hayden! Not what you remember! The truth! You will not thank me!" She all but screamed that as Nikis took another step and her code was forced back by his raw power. "It is not what you _think!_ "

"It never is." Nikis said heavily as his power forced Trinity back a step. She rallied gamely, but was clearly over-matched. She gasped and fell to her knees. Her face set into grim lines and her golden code flared again, pushing Nikis' power away yet again. Nikis shook his head. "Don't make me hurt you, Trinity."

Hadi appeared standing beside Karen, and opened his mouth, but before he could speak, a white garbed woman stood beside him. She shook her head at him. Everyone stiffened as Oracle Janet spoke. Her voice was sad and quiet, but commanding.

"She needs to do it herself, Hadi." Janet said very softly. "She has to accept it herself. Tell him, Lynn."

"I can't." Lynn pleaded as she forced Nikis power back again and then it pressed in, the ancient Nekros grunting with effort. "I cannot destroy what illusions he has, Janet! What right have I to do that?"

"You saved my daughter." Janet said softly, a tear falling down her visible face, tracking across a burn scar. "What can I do but help you try to save yours? Tell him. He won't stop fighting otherwise."

"I..." Lynn groaned as Nikis' power slammed through her code to grab her and then it vanished as she rose, golden power surrounding her as the shade pulsed brighter and brighter. "Hayden lied. Nikis. He didn't get drunk. I didn't get drunk." Nikis froze and Lynn said very quietly. "I wanted kids again. He wanted to try. We did. Then he decided to send them away. He had Nyx alter everyone's memories. The act was consensual, but him throwing them away was not. I wanted to keep them. I so wanted to." She all but begged as her power faded. "Then I didn't remember! Knowing her, Nyx must have argued for days! But I don't remember!"

"That doesn't make sense, Trinity!" Nikis growled. "They are mucking with your mind!"

"The only person who tampered with my mind was Liriel and oh my god, I gave her cause to hurt me." Lynn slumped a bit. "I had multiple backups of my memories of Tali and Hadi and Nyx made me ignore them all. They were there, I just could not see them. Nikis… _You_ were there when they were born! 'Not infected', Hayden said. 'Useless' he said. He was _WRONG!_ " She pleaded. "You don't remember!"

"I can't trust anything that they are involved with." Nikis snarled at Anna and Nina Tal who had him covered with their weapons for all the good those would do. He raised a hand at them, but Lynn moved to shield them. "Move!" He commanded and she shook her head.

"You can strike me down now. Strike us all down and take me back to bondage." Lynn said softly. "But that doesn't change that fact that I know why Hayden died and you don't."

"You know I can't trust anything you say, Trinity." Nikis heaved a sigh but did not move. "You been around them too long."

"Longer than you know." Lynn retorted and Nikis stared at her and then at Janet who shrugged.

"Janet?"

"If you do this, Nikis, as evil, jaded and bitter as you act, you will never forgive yourself when you find out the truth." Janet said softly. "You killed the one responsible. They knew you would."

"They… knew?" Nikis asked, stunned. "Who?"

"His name was John Georigians." Lynn said into the silence that fell. "He was a member of the Royal Marine Corps of England prior to the rise of Orokin. He was old when the Orokin Marines were founded but he found a calling there." She scoffed a bit. "He _did_ call them 'a bunch of bloody Yank lovers' more than once, but he was proud to serve with them. The rejuvenation treatments were the least that the Empress could do."

"That don't make _sense!_ " If anything, Nikis was even angrier. "He had no cause to shoot Hayden!"

"Yes, he did." Lynn replied. "You see, I had wanted to keep tabs on my family. I knew I couldn't interact with them very often if at all, but I wanted to keep tabs, so I did through and old acquaintance from my wilder days. Days when I served in the Royal Army as a medic." Nikis stared at her and her face was forlorn. "I was eighteen. He was nineteen. We were both young, stupid and in love with the service. But we did find time for each other before I left the service and met the man who would be my husband. John found a wife who would accept him for what he was. He was a good man, Nikis."

"He shot Hayden!" Nikis snarled. "And no one knew why! He had no family!"

"None left by then, no." Lynn said sadly. "The Troubles that came from the rise of Orokin hit everywhere. You know how bad it was. How many died when the economies collapsed. You are one of the few alive who can possibly remember." She chided the Nekros gently. "He was all alone when he got a letter from an old friend. One in which she begged his help. She had kids, you see and the father was going it do something horrible to them. Something far worse than anyone else could imagine. When he tried to contact her, to get confirmation, she didn't remember sending the letter and was happy to see him, but did not understand why he was so concerned. Why he was angry when he saw the two orphan kids that Hayden set up for adoption. At that point, she wouldn't have known why he went to the Empress in secret, asking _her_ to take them in. For such a decorated veteran? She did, no questions asked and she did come to love them as her own."

"Trinity, that is not what happened!" Nikis groaned. "They mucked with your head."

"That is not even the worst part, Nikis." Lynn replied. "Do you know _why_ Hayden wanted the kids gone? Why he made them in the first place? Why he wanted then infected?"

"Trinity!" Nikis shook his head. "You are coming with me." He stopped as Trinity's golden code flared again and this time, Janet stepped to her side. "Janet!" He groaned.

"Nikis, you do not want to do that." Janet said softly. "You do not trust her, or any of these. Will you trust _my_ word?" He stared at her and she growled, green power flaring around her. "Don't make me hurt you to prove that I love you! You are no fool! Stop acting one or I will hurt you!" That was pure threat and everyone stared as Nikis recoiled a step.

"That don't make sense!" Nikis protested and paused as Lynn strode to a door that appeared on a wall nearby. "Trinity!" He snapped as she ignored him to open the door.

Inside, the room was odd. The floor was grass. The ceiling and walls were hidden by a very good hologram of sky and forest. A slab of what looked like stone set at a slight angle sat in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by huge trees that no one had seen on Earth for millennia. A woman lay on the slab, her face covered by a white cloth and her form shrouded by armor that was not -quite- a warframe. Trinity ignored everything to step to the slab, her face set.

"TRINITY!" Nikis all but screamed but both Karen and Janet blocked his entry into the room. Anahera stepped out of nowhere to join them, her form covered in blood and her face a rictus of rage that eased as she saw what was happening.

Trinity held out a hand and Karen threw Hadi to her. Lynn set the Glaive on the ground and Hadi appeared standing beside her, his face ashen.

"Can you help her, Mom?" Hadi begged. Lynn frowned as she scrutinized the female form in front of her with all of her senses. He quailed as she slumped. "You can't, can you?"

"No, Hadi, I can't." Lynn said sadly. "I cannot detect anything. Her mind is gone, subsumed by the AI. All I can do is free her from this bondage. Free her from her pain and you from yours." She laid a hand on his shoulder, somehow they were both material enough to do that here. He stared at her and then threw himself around her legs, crying. She stroked his head. "I am sorry, Hadi."

"He can be saved, Trinity!" Hayden shimmered into being nearby, but everyone aimed at him and he stilled."Trinity! He can be saved!"

"He is not _you_ , Hayden Tenno." Lynn's voice was calm, but a rage that matched Nikis' sang underneath it. "He is not yours or mine. He is as he always has been, his own person, not your _crown prince!_ " The last two words were not calm in the slightest. "We English understand all about bastard children, you scum! You had no right to do that to them or to me."

"Mom? You are scaring me." Hadi pleaded and Lynn subsided, her face falling as she looked at him. "Will it hurt?"

"No." Lynn promised. She turned to Anahera. "I can free you. Not them."

"I could take them." Anahera offered, her face easing into sadness. "They are good people."

"That they are." Lynn hugged Hadi gently. "Hadi? You get to choose now. Do you want to continue? Maybe if Anahera takes you both, we can find a way to extract Tali's energy and the other Tenno from the AI. I don't think we can, but we can try." She offered. Nikis growled but both Janet and Anahera matched it and he subsided.

I..." Hadi's words turned into a scream as Hayden's Glaive flew with golden energy flashing from it. Not at her or Hadi! At _Tali!_ Lynn interposed herself as the Orokin soul catcher slammed into her shields. Shields that were suddenly glowing green, red and _yellow!_ The Glaive bounced off like a rock thrown at bulletproof glass.

Lynn stilled as Tali sat up form the slab, her face oddly serene.

"Now you have done it, ya twit." Tali said with a growl as the two spetsnatz moved to ward her. "Hello Mother."

"I do not deserve to be called that." Lynn said weakly as Tali rose from the slab and gave her a hug. "And _what?_ "

"We have a lot of other names for you. Be warned. Most are foul." Tali promised as she set herself, a bow of energy appearing in her hands. "Right now, though? We have to talk to my dad."

"Right." Lynn turned, shielding Hadi from Hayden whose face was a study as his Glaive returned to his hand. "I couldn't save the General. Guess who just _did?_ "

"What?" Hayden demanded with Nikis.

"There are powers far greater than any Orokin or Tenno can ever summon or control." Anahera said quietly. "Love is one of them. Love for a daughter, love for a mother."

"This… You..." Hayden stammered, undone.

"John shot you because you betrayed me, Hadi and Tali." Lynn said with a growl. "And how many Tenno mouth the words 'Tenno serve, they do not rule'. How many would if they knew you _wanted_ to rule? That is, after all, what kings and patriarchs do, rule. He shot you because you betrayed your own code! You made a successor and they were not good enough! For _you_ maybe! They are for me!"

"And now, with the formalities out of the way?" Tali said as she held out a hand to Hadi who took it. "It is time for me to step up and do my job, isn't it, Dad?" Hayden was slowly shaking his head but she smiled. Nikis himself probably had goosebumps at her smile.

"Just not the job you wanted me to do."


	20. Chapter 20

**Mission**

"Wait..." Lynn said weakly and then she blanched. "No! The weapon!"

"It is all right." Tali was glaring at Hayden but her words were calm and to Lynn. "I have control for the moment. Anahera and I worked for quite a while to keep it from firing. We cannot hold it forever, but even Tenno technology will break if you apply hammers to the right parts of it." She grinned, but it was vicious. Hayden didn't move. Everyone was aiming at him, even Nikis!

"If it doesn't work, get a bigger hammer?" Lynn was somewhere beyond incredulous to pure shock.

"I was always fond of 'when in doubt, get a bigger _gun_ '." Tali replied as she pulled Hadi to stand by Lynn who stared at her. "But there is a reason that hammers survived throughout history. They _work_." She shook her head slowly. "The forms may change, the technology may change, but the role does not. Got a nail? Get a hammer."

"I see." Lynn shook her head. "So, when I blocked the Glaive..." She mused and then nodded. "The energy discharge did something."

"Yes, but that is not why I am standing here." Tali said quietly. "I hated you and the Tenno for a long time. A very long time."

"I deserve that." Lynn's voice was barely audible, but Hadi spoke up.

"No, you don't, Mom!" Hadi said sternly. "And you know it, Tali!" Tali smiled at her brother, but it was melancholy.

"I didn't, Hadi." Tali said quietly. "For a very long time, I thought she was to blame. That she abandoned you to the Virus. Me to the Corps. But she didn't. She didn't remember. Anahera helped me understand that." The smile turned on the gore covered warfame was serene. "Thank you."

"There is only one being to blame for the horrors that happened to all three of us." Anahera moved to stand by the trio. She looked at Hayden and shook her head. "I trusted you. Never again."

Her words were calmer than she had been this whole time, but there was no give in them. Nikis was shaking his head as Janet moved to stand with the quartet. Lynn smiled at the Oracle, but it was sad.

"I can't save you, can I?" Lynn asked softly. Tali shook her head. "Then _why?_ " She begged. "Why even talk to me? I… I hurt you both you! I abandoned you both!"

"You didn't do that." Tali replied as Hadi hugged her tight. "Much as I blamed you, it wasn't your fault. Hadi and I will pass on when you break the link to the weapon. Anahera will not." She nodded to the warframe. "But she too will need help. She is as much of a mess as I am, maybe worse."

"I..." Lynn stammered. "She won't trust me!"

"Trust must be earned." Tali replied. "We need to finish the mission, end this horror. Once that is done? We can pass on peacefully."

"You don't need to-" Hayden started, only to freeze as everyone spun to face him. Even Hadi was glowing green in rage.

"You have done more than enough, Hayden Tenno." Lynn said very softly as she slowly released the golden power that flowed around her fingers.

"The Tenno need a leader now." Hayden said quickly. "Tali can-"

"Tali is not your servant! Not your slave!" Lynn snapped before anyone else could speak. "What was it you said? 'She is useless'? Well, I don't care! She is my daughter, not yours! Go the hell away! Now!" She spun to Nikis who had also started glowing orange when Hayden had spoken. To defend him or attack him? Hard to say. "And what are you going to do? Drag humans to your hell hole? Drag me kicking and screaming? It is what you do, isn't it?"

"I honestly don't know what to do here." Nikis replied. "I have seen a lot of bad, been betrayed so many times it blurs, but by him?" He looked at Hayden who remained still. Smart Tenno. "I may be an evil old fart, but there are limits." He shook his head, relaxed, banished his energy and crossed his arms over his chest. "I got no right to interfere here. Do what you gotta… Lynn." When he said her name, he sounded so sad and alone that even Hadi in his anger teared up a bit. "Janet is right. I would hate myself if I did anything rash here. It ain't my place. They ain't my kids."

"And you know about having your kid hurt." Lynn nodded to the ancient Nekros and he nodded back. When she turned back to Hayden, her voice was calmer, but the fires of hell sang in it. "How did Hadi get the Virus, you son of a bitch?" She growled when he opened his mouth. "And no lies here. If you lie to me here, I will destroy you. You know I can."

"Draco turned down the leadership." Hayden said calmly. "Richard and Bellina did not want it. Someone needed to lead."

"That is _not_ what I asked!" Lynn did not quite scream that. "How did he…?" She paused and then blanched. "No… No!" She spun to Hadi and fell to her knees. "No! _I_ _didn't!_ "

"It wasn't you." Hadi said weakly as Lynn started to cry. "You were trying to help. You really were. I was sick and you were trying to help."

"Did I give you the Technocyte Virus?" Lynn said softly, stunned almost beyond belief. "I remember talking to you. I didn't know who you were, you were hurting and that enough for me. I healed what I could and then… you were Infected. I was… Did _I_ do that?" She begged everyone.

"No." Tali said very softly. "He did." She nodded to Hayden who stared at her. When she smiled, it was cold and merciless. "Did you really think I wouldn't figure it out? Two children. One throne. Bad news. So, you remove one and control the other. Simple and as old a story as humanity itself."

" _WHY?_ " Lynn did that as she spun to Hayden, but it was Tali who answered her again.

"Who better to lead the Tenno than a descendant of Hayden Tenno. Whether she wants it or not." Tali's voice was cold now as she moved a step to stand by Lynn. "You didn't do it, Mother. He did. He didn't kill Hadi. That would have been far kinder."

"So he made the weapon..." Hadi said softly. "...put my energy in it..."

"Because any Warrior Queen needs a weapon worthy of her." Tali said with a growl. "And then I spat in his face. Told him what he could do with his 'throne'. Shove it!"

"Good girl!" Lynn rose to her feet and her face was serene but her posture quivered with barely restrained rage. "I didn't know, but that does not absolve me from what I have done. What I have not done." Tali eyed her and Lynn nodded. "So you came here..." She paused. "Because you wanted to die, didn't you?"

"After I put on the armor that Mag refurbished for me, I couldn't die no matter how badly I was hurt. We knew they would attack. Such a weapon was a threat to any and all in power." Tali agreed. "We did not expect such overwhelming numbers. We didn't know Anahera was aboard. We had been hired as temporary mercenaries to protect the sleepers until they left the system. We failed but that was his plan all along."

"What?" That came from several people. Hayden just shook his head.

"Is this germane?" He asked, only to freeze again as Karen, Helen, Anna and Nina Tal moved to stand by Tali, all glaring at him.

"Oh, I think it is very germane." Karen said with a growl as she held up a hand and a holo of Empress Eliza appeared over it! The crown on her head was flashing brightly. Not a good sign. The Empress was _fuming!_ "You heard."

"I did. Well done Starshy praporshchik Karen." Eliza said formally. Tali jerked to attention with the other spetsnatz, but the Empress waved at them. "Well done, spetsnatz. All of you. Stand ready. Your mission is almost done."

"Da, imperatritsa!" All of the spetsnatz said firmly. Karen did as well.

Eliza looked at Hayden and her face held pity of all things! "You just royally screwed up and that was not a pun." She made a face. "Not intended as one anyway. Lynn's people learned that lesson, Hayden. They learned what happens when people muck about with monarchies. Even _today_ , the descendants of the English remember Oliver Cromwell. Not the particulars, but they remember him."

"Lord Protector, my ass." Lynn said in a monotone that was not even close to under her breath.

"A king by any other name, yes." Eliza said with a growl. "The whole _point_ of your Tenno, Hayden, was that you were not political! You were not supposed to be. You were supposed to be defenders against the Virus and the _check_ on the government. This was madness, pure and simple madness. _Making_ successors _never_ works." Tali held up a hand and the Empress nodded to her. "General?'

"External politics wasn't his plan, Empress." Tali said softly. "I was to lead the Tenno. Many would have flocked to my side after the mess with Oris and Galintra and I knew that it would spark more unrest in a tiny society that had already seen far too much of it. As a Marine, I had seen civil wars far too often to have any illusions about what would happen if it happened in the Tenno ranks again."

"And when he asked you?" Eliza inquired.

"His method of 'asking' was to offer me infection." Tali said dryly and everyone recoiled. "He said he could control it. I didn't believe him then and I do not believe him now."

"We found ways to dampen the effects." Trinity said sadly. "It cost far too many lives and took far too long, but we did figure out how to keep our aspirants from falling to infection in most cases. We had no idea how lucky were were that all of the first ten Tenno who took up warframes came out sane and whole. After that? It took a long time to find a way to make it safer for those who chose our path. But you? You didn't choose that."

"No." Tali agreed. "I had a job by then. A hard job which I was good at. While I didn't _know_ that he had infected Hadi, I suspected it. It is his kind of tactic." She shook her head. "I have done things as a Marine and as spetsnatz that will haunt my nightmares forever, but that was beyond the pale. A little boy?"

"Yes, it is." Lynn shook her head. "I cannot accept this, Tali, Hadi. I cannot. I must find another way. I do not know you, but I want to."

"There is!" Hayden all but begged. "All you have to do is-"

"SHUT UP, HAYDEN!" Nikis, Janet and Eliza all roared as Lynn spun to face him. He opened his mouth again, but Lynn had heard enough.

"You have done more than enough. You are energy form and so am I." Lynn said with a growl that was pure mama grizzly bear. "Nikis! _Do nothing!_ " The Nekros raised his hands, and put them over where ears would be on a human! He was covering his ears as Lynn charged Hayden!

Everyone stared as Hayden backpedaled, but then Lynn was on him, her golden power somehow nullifying his abilities. He was more experienced, she was far more enraged. No one moved as she swept his legs out from under him, knocked him to the ground and proceeded to beat the ever living _crap_ out of the First Tenno. She did not say a word the whole time and that was somehow scarier.

"And for the _last time_..." Lynn finally spoke as she rose from the broken mess, giving it a kick. " _Shut up!_ " Everyone stared at her as she stalked back to the group. "What?" She demanded. Hadi grinned and then started to clap! Suddenly everyone was clapping, most with visible faces smiling. Lynn shrugged, but she smiled just a little. "Hey, I have a temper too."

"You don't _say!_ " Everyone chorused. Lynn flushed but smiled a bit wider.

"That felt good." Lynn admitted. She sighed as she turned to Anahera. "Is there anything I can do?"

"I do not know." Anahera admitted. "I have spent my imprisonment here studying the AI. It has grown beyond your initial designs. It is more and less than it was." Lynn nodded. "That said? I don't know all of what Cyberlancers are capable of."

"We have limits just like everything." Lynn replied. "Much as some called us wizards or whatever, we always knew we were not deities. That there were some things that we simply can not do." She turned to Tali and Hadi. Hadi was trying to be brave, but the naked fear in his face was heartbreaking. "No matter what, Hadi… You make me proud." Hadi started to cry and Lynn went to her knees, holding out her arms. He ran to her, hugging her tight. She looked at Tali. "Do you have any ideas?"

"One." Tali admitted and Lynn stiffened at the resignation in her voice. "You won't like it."

"I like none of this!" Lynn fought for control as she held Hadi's sobbing form. "What do I do?"

No questions. No quibbling. Just a mother worried about her kids.

"You cannot save us both." Tali warned. "I am entwined too deeply to be anywhere but here. Hadi is not. I didn't trust Tenno after all of what happened, so when they gave the weapon with Hadi, I tinkered with it a bit. I found a number of traps, a number of holds on him and me that I worked to remove. That is one reason the spetsnatz have all been able to use Glaives, if not as well as Tenno. They make very efficient weapons."

"That they do." Lynn agreed. "So… Hadi's energy?" She inquired as Hadi stiffened. "It is okay, Hadi. It is okay." She hugged him again and he relaxed.

"He is not actually entwined with the AI like I am. Anahera managed to keep herself and him free. Barely." Tali shrugged. "He is entwined with _me_." Lynn stared at her and Tali nodded. "Break the link. Save my brother."

"And doom you to oblivion." Lynn shook her head even as Hadi shook his, savagely. "There has to be another way."

"There might be." Nikis of all people spoke up and all eyes turned to the Nekros. "I ain't at liberty to say, but I know some people with some odd abilities."

"Nikis, no one in this-" The General paused and then hissed. "Even _you_ don't want to tempt the wardens of reality but so much." Tali warned and Nikis stiffened. "I was _there_ with Anna when they were called. When that Orokin idiot started messing with time and space and threatened _everything_ with his silliness. I heard what they said. _No_."

"I wasn't there." Nikis mused. "Hell of a mess from what I heard."

"Yeah, it _was_." Anna and Tali chorused with a matching shudder. Tali continued. "If I _never_ see another Pokemon again, it will be _far_ too soon." Anna nodded firmly. "And people wonder why that big R is scorched into places in that derelict? Team Rocket had no discipline _or_ sense."

"No." Hadi pleaded. "You can't go, Tali! You can't! I won't let you!"

"Hadi? My time is done." Tali said gently. "Yours is not. You need to move on and your mother can help you with that." Lynn looked at her and Tali sighed. "I have been talking to some people." She smiled at Janet who smiled back. "A weapon is not what Hadi wanted to be."

"What do you want to be, Hadi?" Lynn inquired gently. "You don't need to be a weapon. That is all I was for a long time. Even as energy, you are a little boy. You don't want to hurt people, do you?"

"No." Hadi said weakly. "But Tali needed me so I did what I had to."

"And that is on _me!_ " Tali said sternly. "You are not to blame. I had to use you as a weapon and that is a crime I will pay for, likely eternally. You are better than that. Better than me. Hadi, please. Go with Lynn. Go with your mom."

"No." Lynn said sternly enough that everyone looked at her. "Do not take choice from him! If he chooses to stay with you, then that is his right. Even knowing that it will destroy him, that is his right. Not mine. Not yours." She glared at Tali who looked away. "I know you love him, but it is not your choice any more than it was Hayden's. I don't want to lose him, but it is not my choice. It is Hadi's."

Hadi stared up at her through tear streaked eyes and his face held confusion. "My choice?"

"Yes, Hadi. Your choice." Lynn hugged him one final time and then rose, taking his hand in hers. She turned to the spetsnatz. "Your mission?"

"You are doing it right now. Offering him a choice." Anna said very quietly and Lynn stiffened. She stared from the ancient warrior to Hadi and back. Then she smiled.

"It seems I still have a lot to learn." Lynn gave Hadi's hand a squeeze that he returned. "Hadi. Your choice. Stay with Tali or come with me and Anahera because I am taking her from this place and no one will stop me."

"You will start a schism!" Hayden said weakly from the floor. But Lynn didn't move. "Another civil war!"

"A schism? Perhaps. Not a war." Lynn replied. "Because if any Tenno or shades decide to follow me, I will forbid them, on pain of being cast out, from violence against other Tenno or shades. They may flee or they may defend themselves non-lethally, but they will _not_ institute violence." She kept her eyes on Anahera who nodded slowly.

"A noble goal." Anahera said very softly. "A hard goal, but our kind do not do easy, do we?"

"We have been defined by our ancestry for so long that we _are_ Tenno no matter how badly our forbears messed things up." Lynn said quietly. "We are what we are but I am Lynn now. No more, no less."

Anahera nodded and then slowly knelt in front of Lynn. "Sister to Sister, yours in life and death."

"Sister to Sister." Lynn replied. "Yours in life and death." Anahera nodded and rose to stand beside Lynn. The shade looked at the others and then sighed. "And now? We finish this. Hadi? Please?" She pleaded.

"Tali?" Hadi begged but Tali shook her head. "I... I don't know." He admitted. "I don't know who to trust!" Anna stepped forward and Hadi looked at her, hope in his eyes. "Anna?"

"Your mom just gave up everything she believed in for you and Tali, Hadi." Anna said very softly. "I hate Tenno and likely always will, but that is worthy of respect." She smiled at Lynn, a trifle less coldly. "Or at least quite a bit of caution around angry mommas." Lynn just looked at her and Anna smiled. "I have my disagreements with Tenno, Hadi, but Karen and Lynn will not forsake you."

"Sword and soul, blood and bone, may my own blade end me if I transgress." Lynn said and Karen repeated the words.

"Then..." Hadi threw his arms around Lynn again. "Then I trust you, Mom."

"Okay." Lynn hugged Hadi gently and then spoke to the assemblage. "We need to end this. I _trust_ the spetsnatz have an escape plan?" The word 'trust' was heavily ironic but she was grinning.

"Actually..." Anahera said slowly. " _I_ do. The Artemis Ascendant is doomed, but it will rise again."

"And..." Lynn said as he held her son.

"Trust me." Anahera said with a wide smile and _everyone_ groaned.

"No."


	21. Chapter 21

**Trust**

"And as you saw, General, the ship was destroyed." Anna said firmly to the holo of the Grineer general who was all but spitting at her. "The weapon has been negated. Our mission was accomplished."

"And you are nowhere to be found." General Sargas Ruk was not a happy Grineer. "The Queens will not be pleased."

"You might be surprised." Anna said with a shrug. "I usually am when dealing with them. The Queens are mercurial and dangerous, but they are not stupid. I did get a chance to look at the targeting parameters and yes, it would have targeted _anyone_ and _everyone_ who was vocal about destroying the Tenno. _Millions_ would have perished, guilty and innocent alike." She frowned a little. "I have my own disagreements with the Tenno, but even I know that even the worst of them would not do such a thing lightly. Whoever is responsible for that horror is long dead. The ship is destroyed and..." Her face turned sly. "I am sorry I didn't stick around so you could kill me. But to be honest? The Queens see me as a useful tool. They would likely not be pleased if you did so, and such would not end well for you. The threat is negated and you won a victory. I don't see the downside for you in this outcome."

"Gah!" The General cut the connection and Anna smiled as she turned to the others.

The small ship seemed cramped with Anna, Lynn, Hadi, Anahera and Tali in it, even if only Anna and Anahera were corporeal.

"And you say 'I' have a temper." Lynn quipped as she hugged Hadi close to herself. He hugged her back.

"You do." Anna replied. "So do I. Never say that the Grineer do not come by their anger honestly, Lynn. They were abused for a very long time. Their rage is genetic now, built into their DNA. When they were given the chance at freedom, they grabbed it. As slaves have throughout history, their revenge on their brutal taskmasters was bloody. Yes, they are dangerous and violent but they are not all evil any more than all Tenno are good."

"I do have a lot to learn." Lynn said sadly as she turned to where Anahera stood beside Tali. Both looked weak. "Are you all right?" That was to both.

Tali looked at Anahera and both shook their heads.

"The AI fragment that you installed in this ship is sufficient to keep us both going, but all the others…They are lost." Anahera said sadly. "I was to be their protector. I failed."

"You know he planned for that." Tali said quietly and Anahera nodded. "He planned for you to wake and take control of me, connect me to the AI and use me to take revenge on whoever had attacked."

"Yes." Anahera sighed deeply. "I… Once I called him 'Friend', 'Teacher', 'Master'. Now? I can only call him an enemy."

"No." Lynn said quickly enough that everyone looked at her. "Do not give Hayden that kind of power over you. He is a manipulative piece of-" She paused, looked at Hadi who grinned at her and then she continued. "-...of _garbage_." Everyone snickered at her expression. "But those who follow him are not all enemies. Not even Nikis." Anna's face was set, but Lynn continued. "You know he could have done far worse to you, Anna."

"Yes." Anna said very quietly. "But I will neither forgive nor forget. My duty was to Hadi and he tried to keep me from my duty."

"He failed." Lynn hugged Hadi again and the boy snuggled close to her. "That said, from what I know about you spetsnatz, you know all about dirty jobs, Anna." Anna nodded slowly and forced herself to relax. "I am not excusing what he did. To you or to Hadi, but he has always been focused on his own duty. Nearly to the exclusion of everything else. He has more demons than you or I can possibly imagine. I am not asking you to forgive him. I am asking you not to let _him_ have power over you. You are better than that."

"Sometimes." Anna shrugged. "Are we there yet?" She asked, a sly look on her face. Lynn's felt her incorporeal face heat and the shade shook her head as the shade tried not to sputter.

"You are _bad_ , Colonel!" Even now, Lynn could not shake the grief that had hit her when they had told her that Samuel was gone for good. "But for what is worth? Thank you." She smiled at Hadi and Tali and they smiled back. Tali, a bit hesitantly, but Hadi's smile was full and genuine. "Through the fires of hell, through war and death and horror almost beyond imagining, you did your duty. You saved my son and daughter."

"I had help." Anna said mildly as Nina Tal entered the room behind her, Karen at her side. Karen's face was stricken and Anna nodded. "It is not your fault, Karen." The Colonel reassured her. "Such ops are never clean."

"I did what I had to. Hadi needed help and I gave it. I have no regrets about that." Karen said weakly. "But being cast out out of the clan hurts almost as badly as my adopted father shooting me did." Lynn sighed deeply and nodded.

"My friends, I am afraid it is only going to get worse." The former acolyte of Hayden Tenno said with a frown. She shook her head. "That said. Colonel? General? Was there an option?"

"We have consulted. It has never been done." Anna frowned in thought as Karen took up station behind Lynn who frowned at her. Hadi beckoned her closer and Karen shrugged. She knew better than to argue with both of them. She stepped up the pair, smiling at the energy boy. "General?"

"It was unheard of for a Tenno to become a Marine." Tali smiled a bit. "From what I understand and have seen, you are a damn good one, Karen. _They_ won't cast you out. They won't _dare._ " She shook her head. "Not after the Empress personally yelled at the sergeant in front of them all. I have known a few Emperors and Empresses. Eliza has a temper to match any of them. Impressive vocabulary too." She smirked at Karen's expression.

"She shouldn't have done that. She shouldn't have dressed him down in public." Karen said weakly. "I… I disobeyed orders."

"You followed procedure." Tali snapped in command voice and Karen stiffened instinctively. "You heard Hadi crying and you did as you should have." Karen was shaking her head but Tali was having none of it. When she spoke again, it wasn't to Karen. "You were right. She is being stupid."

A golden hologram appeared in the middle of the room. Eliza was wearing a nightgown and not wearing her crown. She _was_ wearing a disgusted look. Karen opened her mouth, but Eliza beat her to speech.

"I am not surprised." The Empress said with a smile that was more than a bit grim. "What just happened would have hurt anyone, let alone you, Karen. You have been through hell several times. You have emerged stronger for it each time but such things always leave scars. That said..." She glared at Karen who stiffened to attention. "You did as you were _ordered_ to do. You guarded the vault. When Hadi woke up, you followed procedure and called _me_. I spoke to him and when you found out what was happening, you stepped up. You did not hesitate. You offered yourself, your very _existence_ to a being who you did not know. You _saved_ Talia's son and daughter." Karen opened her mouth, but Eliza speared her with a finger. "Do not argue with me, First Lieutenant."

Karen's eyes bulged. That was two steps _above_ Karen's rank. The Empress had every right to do such things but still… The _Marines_ handed promotion in their ranks! Oh, there would be _serious_ upset in the Marine ranks if even the Empress stepped on protocol so blatantly.

Karen swallowed and when she managed. "I, um… I am honored, Empress, but… I am not qualified to be an officer." Eliza crossed her arms and her face set. "Uh..."

"Says who?" The Empress demanded, her face and tone cold.

"Uh..." Karen looked for support around the compartment, but everyone looked away. She swallowed hard. "Empress…" She slumped. "I don't feel worthy of such."

"That means you are." Tali said with a nod when Karen looked at her. "Any who _want_ such responsibility are insane or idiotic. The job of a Marine officer sucks. No one _likes_ it. There are those who are good at it and those are not. From what everyone has said, you are." Eliza nodded.

"I know better than to argue with Generals and Empresses." Karen said sadly. "And I have nowhere else to go. They took my Liset." Lynn hissed, but Karen just shook her head "It was clan property, not mine. What little I have that was mine, I offer, Lynn. Mainly my self, my warframe and weapons." She nodded to the shade.

"Oh, don't worry, Lieutenant." Eliza smiled and while it was cold, bit was also a bit mocking? "You are going to be very busy and will be making lots of funds to restock. I _did_ look over precedents, General and it has never been done." Tali nodded, but Eliza wasn't done. "That said, there is nothing in the Tenno Code that forbids it or in any of the law archives that I have perused. Feel free. There is another who wishes to join as well. Another who burnt his bridges fairly thoroughly."

"We will need to take it slow." Tali said after a moment's thought. "We are different. We are not Tenno nor are we Marines. We act in ways that both will find abhorrent. We work in the shadows and we consort with scum and villainy. The mission always comes first but in the end? We need to remember what we fight for or we will become what we fight. That was the fate of far too many who fought in the shadows throughout history."

"I thought spetsnatz had to be-" Karen paused, looking at Nina Tal who smiled just a little. "Ah, you know what? Forget I said that." Her tone was so sour that everyone smiled.

"Said what?" Anna, Nina Tal and Tali chorused matching grins.

"Jokes aside, I will have a big target pained on me as far as any Tenno are concerned." Karen said soberly.

"Not all." Eliza growled. "The Royal Guard have all voiced their support for you. If you wish to join their ranks, you have but to ask." Karen's eyes bulged again and she slowly shook her head.

"I think I can do more here, Empress." Karen said with a sigh. "I want things to be as they were, but change is inevitable, isn't it?"

"Yes." Eliza smiled at Karen. "Good luck, Lieutenant." Her smile turned impish. "Try to keep Hadi out of trouble? Please?"

"Hey, as a Marine, Karen may consider the impossible her stock in trade, but she is a Marine, not a goddess. There _are_ limits." Lynn quipped as Hadi looked rebellious. Then the boy shook his head.

"No, she isn't a deity." Hadi said with a soft, sad smile as he looked at Karen, his eyes glistening. "But she is my hero." Eliza smiled at him and her holo vanished.

"I hope not to disappoint you, Hadi." Karen smiled back, her own face easing. "What do I do?" She asked Anna. "I mean… Do I swear an oath or what?"

"There are formalities, training and such, but you will pass any of that with ease after training and fighting as a Tenno." Anna said with a nod. "We do not use warframes, but our armor is similar to the first ones. Tali saw to that." Tali nodded, her face grim.

"Not quite as good, but a close as I could make it. An actual warframe won't be that different in practice. We much prefer not to go in guns blazing." Tali said with a sigh. "And if there is another Tenno who has lost his way and wishes to aid us or join us, we will need to vet him, but we need more people with Helen gone."

"Will we know what happens to her?" Hadi asked. "She was nice."

"She won't remember us, Hadi." Anna said with a sigh. "I was gentle, but I had to do it."

"Too many secrets." Hadi said sadly. "Too many things that no one can know."

A console beeped nearby and Anahera spun to look at it. When she turned back. Her face was set. "We are being hailed. A Tenno assault craft is requesting permission to dock."

"Who?" Karen, Lynn and Anna all spoke in unison. Karen was visibly tense.

"He says his name is Sun." Anahera said and stiffened as Anna, Hadi, Lynn and Karen all stiffened. Nina Tal was impassive, but was that a smile that crossed her face?

"How did he find us?" Karen demanded, her hand going to her hip where a pistol lay in its holster. "I… I can't..." She swallowed hard. "I have no chance against him even if I was in a warframe."

"Karen, it is okay." Anna moved to flank her and Nina Tal did as well, a moment later. "You are one of us now. We protect our own. Not always the way you might think, but only an idiot takes us lightly." Everyone nodded to that. "He won't touch you."

"Let him board." Lynn said when everyone looked at her. "We will hear what he has to say."

No one moved or relaxed as a soft 'thunk' heralded the docking of the smaller Tenno craft to the remnants of the Artemis. A moment later, a white Loki warframe stepped into the main chamber through the airlock. That wasn't a Prime! Sun nodded to all of them, but faced Lynn.

"Lynn. I am Sun." He said by way of introduction. "Brother to sister, yours in life and death." He crossed his arms and bowed his head as everyone stilled. Everyone but Nina Tal!

"They told me what you did." Lynn said quietly. "You angered Rachel fairly thoroughly."

"I did." Sun shrugged a little. "Hurt like hell, but worth it." He bowed to Hadi. "Are you well, Hadi?" He asked.

"I am, Sun, thank you." Hadi bowed back. "Sun..." Hadi said weakly. "You came when I screamed for help. You helped us, but… You are a Grandmaster Tenno."

"Was." Sun replied and everyone stilled. He shrugged slightly. "I knew as soon as I saw her there that Rachel would not be happy. As the leader of the First, she is the only being who could strip me of my rank. She did."

"For _that?_ " Hadi demanded, his voice turning shrill. "For saving me and Karen? For..." He staggered as Sun nodded. "I..." He was clearly fighting not to cry and Lynn pulled him close. "Why?"

"She has never liked me or what I do." Sun replied evenly. "Like the spetsnatz, I walk in the shadows. I have done it for a long, long time and I was very good at it, but as they know, it eats away at your soul." Anna and Tali both nodded. "They will pick someone else to lead intelligence. I resigned as soon as you called for help, Hadi."

"How can _resign_ from that?" Karen blurted out and then clamped her mouth shut. "I… I don't think I want to know."

"It is simple." Was Sun amused? "You tell Mag to 'fuck off'."

"Language!" Lynn snapped and Sun jerked and then bowed to her and then once to Hadi who snickered but nodded. " _Mag?_ " She demanded, incredulous.

"Those were the exact words she told us to use. She was the First head of Tenno Intelligence." Sun shrugged. "She didn't want people who didn't want to be there. It was and is a very nasty job. You won't trust me, and I know that, but I hope to earn trust someday. I find myself at loose ends. For so long, my job defined me. I had to be pragmatic. I had to be evil on any number of occasions and the balance in my soul is skewed. What is left of my family is as safe as they can be, and I want to be who I once was again." He bowed to Tali. "A simple warrior."

"I don't think anything about you is simple, Sun." Tali said after a moment. "You offer your skills?" She asked slowly. Sun nodded.

"My self, my soul, my skills, all that I am." Sun replied. "I discarded my Prime warframe and stand ready to discard this one."

"I just want to know one thing." Anahera said with a growl. 'How did you find us?" She demanded. "Our cloak is just as good as any contemporary Tenno ship's."

"Ask the Colonel." Sun replied as he took up a position of parade rest in front of Lynn who looked at Anna. Anna's face was a study as she looked from Sun to Nina Tal and back. Nina Tal looked innocent. It didn't look very convincing on a Grineer face.

"You are very different from most Grineer. For more intelligent and self-reliant that any Ballista I ever dealt with." Anna said slowly. Nina Tal nodded. "And..."

"You command me now, Colonel." Nina Tal said with a smile. "I can tell you if you so wish. There was not time before. When I took the oath, I meant it. You did save me from being reclaimed. I am Grineer, that will not change. But my loyalty is now to you and the spetsnatz and you know it." Anna nodded slowly, relaxing.

" _How_ did Hadi call you." Lynn demanded suddenly. "He wouldn't know who you are! _What_ you were!"

"I was watching." Sun replied. "I knew that if I interfered, things would get bad, but when Hadi cried for help and Nina Tal's implants picked it up, amplified it and sent it to me, I found I didn't care what anyone else thought anymore. My brother needed me. I came."

"Your implants seemed to be normal Grineer ones." Anna said softly. Nina Tal nodded. "But they were not, were they?" The Grineer shook her head. "How long have you been a deep cover operative for Intelligence?"

"Almost four years." Sun replied for Nina Tal who smiled thanks at him. "She doesn't like talking about what happened to her and I don't blame her. The fire team she was part of was captured by a fairly nasty Orokin scientist scum. Of them she is the only survivor and she spent a great deal of time as a prisoner of the Tenno. Then she went to Intelligence, offered her services as a way to stick it to the Queens."

"And now?" Anna asked.

"Now I serve you." Nina Tal's tone was flat. "This is a far better use of my skills. You know me now, Anna. On a deeper level than anyone but Brianna ever touched. Will I betray you?" She asked.

"No." Anna said softly. "And him?" She nodded to Sun.

"I trust him about as far as I can throw this ship." Nina Tal said with a shrug and several people laughed.

"Smart spetsnatz." Far from offended, Sun seemed pleased. "I may not be able to serve as spetsnatz, but I bet you could use some sneaky chaotic backup on occasion and I do know how to keep my mouth shut. For what it is worth though? What they did was wrong. What Hayden did was wrong. I may be a snake. I may be twisty, turn-y, evil, all of that. But I _refuse_ to become what I fight."

Lynn looked at Tali who shrugged and then smiled. "I have seen and recruited worse."

"I do _not_ want to _know_." Lynn said sternly and Tali nodded. Lynn turned back to Sun and nodded to him. "Sister to brother, yours in life and death. Trust will not happen, not soon if ever, but we have a job to do."

"Command me, Sister." Sun said as he stepped back to one wall.

"The Oracles have seen a mess developing on Venus. They only say it looks to be bad." Lynn said and looked at Sun. "Can you say anything?"

"Venus has been a backwater for some time. Nef Anyo's madness to rebuild any and all Orokin tech he can has been contagious and many Corpus are flocking there with the limited reopening of the rail network." Sun sounded thoughtful. "I have heard muted rumbles of unrest from a place called Fortuna. It is some kind of mining outpost and that is all I know about it."

"Then let's say we find out more?" Lynn replied. Anahera nodded, turned to a console and the ship rumbled as its powerful engines kicked to life. "I trust this will be interesting at the very least."

" _That_ at least, I think we can all trust." Karen smiled as Hadi started to chuckle.


End file.
